Piazza dei Signori
Piazza dei Signori, together with Piazza
delle Erbe and Piazza Bra, is one of the most important and
significant squares, both historically and artistically, of the
city of Verona. It is a charming and elegant place,
considered for this reason "the hall of Verona".
The square occupies part of two blocks of the ancient Roman urban
grid, close to the ancient forum, now the central Piazza
delle Erbe. A few years ago, archaeological excavations have
brought to light at the edge of the square two perpendicular roman
roads: cardus and decumanus.
In the early Middle Age, a series of
tower-houses were built on the area, the remains of which can be
found in the foundations of some buildings that stand around the
square. In the Communal Age around the square
were erected the buildings of the public institutions of Verona,
first of all the City Council, with its
characteristic alternation of layers of tuff and brick typical of
the Veronese Romanesque, occupies almost an entire side of the
square. The palace dates back to the 12th century, one of
the oldest public buildings in Italy, and in Venetian
times became the city court, called Palazzo della Ragione.
The square is completed by the Scala Family Palace,
residence of the lords that ruled Verona between the end of 1200s
and the end of 1300s, with its typical Ghibelline battlements, and
then the Palazzo del Capitano, headquarter of
the military power in town, the Loggia del Consiglio,
oldest pure Renaissance style building in Veneto
and the Domus Nova, residence of the judges in
the Venetian era.
The square owes its name to the fact that here are concentrated
the seat of political power in medieval and Renaissance Verona,
here lived and worked the lords of the city: the members of the
Scala family. "Signore" in Italian ("Signori"
when plural) today means "mister" and it is used to show respect
to anyone, but in the Middle Age it was used only for those who
really had the power.
Different style and age of the palaces around Piazza dei Signori
make the square a sort of open-air museum of architecture
with Romanesque, Gothic, including the Arche Scaligere that can be
glimpsed over one of the arches, Renaissance style with the Loggia
del Consiglio and the Palazzo del Capitano, and the
pre-Neoclassical forms of Domus Nova. Despite the great
differences in appearance between the various buildings of the
square, there is a common thread that helps to create a harmonious
and uniform whole. The various buildings, albeit with their
diversity, are united by arches and walkways
that symbolically represented the unity of the city power. Above
the arches, statues of important figures in Verona's history, such
as Scipione Maffei and Girolamo Fracastoro, make a pendant with
statues of Veronese figures from the Roman past on the Loggia del
Consiglio.
In the center of the square, a statue of Dante
recalls the hospitality that the poet received at the court of Cangrande
della Scala and the seven years he spent in Verona.
Even today, many Veronese still call Piazza dei Signori Piazza
Dante.
Piazza dei Signori is an essential stop on every guided tour of Verona. It offers many cues to talk about the history, legends, art of the city, from its Roman origins, through the Lombard period and the rise of the Scala family until the long period of Venetian rule, with the lions of St. Mark whose silhouettes are still visible on many of the buildings of the square.
For more information about Piazza dei Signori and the guided tours proposed by the tourist guides of Verona send us an email: