The Due Torri Hotel boasts a centuries-old-link with Verona and watches over its memory. What better starting point for a walking tour of the city in search of its countless architectural and historical treasures. Today we suggest you immerse yourself in the medieval part of the city with a tour of the immediate environs of the hotel.  

The first stop on the tour is directly in front of the Due Torri itself: the Basilica di Sant’Anastasia, the largest church in Verona, begun in 1290 as a Dominican monastery. The most important Gothic monument in the city, it has three wide naves, various chapels and an old oratory on the left, the Cappella dei Giusti. It houses works of inestimable worth, including the fresco St George at Trebizond by Pisanello, an interpreter of International Gothic and a precursor of the Renaissance.

 

Immediately to the right of the hotel, you come to Piazza delle Erbe with its beautiful fountain of Madonna Verona and the sumptuous Palazzo Maffei. From here, Via Mazzini, the city’s main shopping street, leads to the Roman Arena, the symbol of the city and one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres anywhere, second only to the Colosseum in Rome. Built with blocks of Valpolicella marble, since 1913 it has been used as an open-air opera theatre – now one of the world’s most important – with performances featuring the greatest international singers. As an official ticket agency for the Verona Arena Foundation, the Due Torri Hotel is in a position to reserve the best seats for its guests. 

Verona is famous the world over as the city of Romeo and Juliet and a symbol of love. From the Due Torri you can set out on a romantic tour of the places mentioned in Shakespeare’s immortal masterpiece. On the far side of Piazza delle Erbe is the Casa di Giulietta, Juliet’s House, built in the 13th century. Walking through the archway, plastered with love notes left by visitors, into the courtyard, you can admire the statue of Juliet and her famous balcony. On show in the house itself are period engravings and the original costumes from Franco Zeffirelli’s film version of Romeo and Juliet. Just a few minutes’ walk away is the Casa di Romeo, Rome’s house, a rustic brick castle that belonged to the Montecchi family (the Montagues in Shakespeare’s play). Last but not least, what has been identified as Juliet’s tomb is to be found in the Monastery of San Francesco in Corso. Legend has it that it was in the monastery’s evocative crypt that the star-crossed lovers’ met their tragic end. “Pilgrims” to the site have included the likes of Heinrich Heine, Charles Dickens and Lord Byron.

 

After such an emotion-packed tour, it’s now time to “go home” to the hotel, where dinner at the Due Torri Lounge & Restaurant, or on the Terrazza Panoramica, will bring this day of discoveries to a delicious end.