VERONA, a fortified town of Austrian Italy, capital of a delegation of the same name, in the crown-land of Venice, on the Adige, 22 miles N.N.E. of Mantua. It is one of the most beautifully situated towns in Italy, at the foot of the offsets of the Alps, on a rapid river which flows through a rich and varied landscape. It is surrounded with very strong defences, recently erected by the Austrians; and it forms, along with Peschiera, Mantua, and Legnano, the celebrated Quadrilateral, which is the key to northern Italy. Verona is also interesting for its rich historical remains and its literary institutions. It is divided into two unequal parts by the Adige, which flows in a circuitous course through the town, and is crossed by four bridges, one of which is a handsome stone one of three arches. The town has on the whole an antique but not a dilapidated appearance. The principal approach to it is through a short but wide street lined with magnificent buildings, and many of the other streets and squares are equally fine. The houses are, many of them at least, of vast size, and the best of them as well as the most remarkable public buildings, are the work of the architects Sanmicheli and Palladio. Of the many elegant squares in Verona, the finest are the Piazza Bra, Piazza dei Signori, Piazza del Erbe, and the Mercato Vecchio. The churches are about forty in number, and all more or less remarkable for their architecture, or for the paintings and ornaments they contain. The most important of them is the cathedral, said to have been built in the time of Charlemagne. It exhibits a combination of different styles of architecture, and some parts of it are very fine. Of the pictures that it contains, the most beautiful is the "Assumption of the Virgin," by Titian. Near the cathedral stands the episcopal palace, a large building in the oriental style, overhanging the river. Many of the other churches are very ancient, and some may be traced up to the eighth century. Another remarkable feature of Verona is the number of splendid palaces it contains; some of them belonging to private persons, and others devoted to public purposes. Of the former, one of the most beautiful is the Palazzo Canossa, built by Sanmicheli, begun in 1527, and completed in 1560, being a most tasteful and richly ornamented building. The Palazzo Bevilacqua, by the same architect is also very fine, but has unfortunately been left unfinished; and the Palazzo Ridolfi is remarkable for a curious historical picture of the "Coronation of Charles V. at Bologna." The ancient palace of Theodoric, which must have been, while it remained entire, a most splendid building, after having been much injured in former times, was at last entirely destroyed by the French in 1801. The palace of the Scaligeri, who were for a long time the lords of Verona, is now the municipal buildings, and has a fine cam-
panile tower rising to the height of 300 feet. Other fine buildings are the Palazzo Publico, built near the Roman amphitheatre and in harmony with its style; the Palazzo del Consiglio, built in the fifteenth century, and containing statues of the great men that have sprung from Verona, among whom are Pliny the younger, Cornelius Nepos, Vitruvius, and Catullus; and the Palazzo della Ragione, a very ancient building, containing the courts of law. Verona abounds in Roman antiquities, and the most remarkable of them is the amphitheatre. Its date cannot be determined with certainty, but it is probably not so old as the time of Augustus. The exterior has at present rather a ruinous appearance, as it was so much damaged by an earthquake in 1184, that only four of its seventy-two arches are standing; but the interior is in excellent preservation, although it is disguised by the erection of a small wooden theatre on the arena. The arena is oval in form, 248 feet in length by 147 in breadth; and from it rise, one above another, forty-five rows of seats, calculated to accommodate 22,000 spectators. The access to the seats is easy, and the passages leading to them are spacious. The building is kept in good repair, and the parts that may get damaged from time to time are renewed. Verona is the see of a bishop, and contains a lyceum, episcopal seminary, three gymnasiums, an academy of painting, another of agriculture commerce and arts, a botanic garden, two valuable public libraries, and several theatres. It is celebrated for its dyeworks, and has also woollen and cotton factories, silk-mills, and a considerable trade in silk, grain, oil, &c. Pop. (1851) 51,091.