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Piazza delle Erbe - Piazza dei Signori in
Verona
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Originally a major Roman crossroads and the site of the forum,
Piazza dell' Erbe is still the heart of the city. As the name
suggests, the market used to sell mainly vegetables, but
nowadays it has been largely taken over by ugly, semi-permanent
booths selling clothes, souvenirs, antiques and fast food. The
rich variety of buildings framing the square is far more
attractive. Most striking are the Domus Mercatorum (on the left
as you look from the Via Cappello end), which was founded in
1301 as a merchants' warehouse and exchange, the
fourteenth-century Torre del Gardello and, to the right of the
tower, the Casa Mazzanti , whose sixteenth-century murals are
best seen after dark, under enhancing spotlights.
The neighbouring Piazza dei Signori used to be the chief public
square of Verona. Much of the right side is taken up by the
Palazzo del Capitano , which is separated from the Palazzo del
Comune by a stretch of excavated Roman street. Facing you as you
come into the square is the medieval Palazzo degli Scaligeri ,
residence of the Scaligers; a monument to more democratic times
extends from it at a right angle - the fifteenth-century Loggia
del Consiglio , former assembly hall of the city council and
Verona's outstanding early-Renaissance building. The rank of
Roman notables along the roof includes Verona's most illustrious
native poet, Catullus. For a dizzying view of the city, take a
sharp right as soon as you come into the square, and go up the
twelfth-century Torre dei Lamberti (Tues-Sun 9.30am-6pm).
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