Home1842 Edition

VERONA

Volume 21 · 612 words · 1842 Edition

a delegation or province of Austrian Lombardy, within the government of Venice. It is bounded on the north by the Tyrol, on the north-east by Vicenza, on the east by Padua, on the south-east by Polesina, on the south by Mantua, and on the west by the lake of Garda, which divides it from Brescia. It extends over 1320 square miles, and contains 277,849 inhabitants, all Catholics, and all, excepting those in thirteen mountain communes, who speak a corrupt German, being of the Italian race. On the north, this province is partly occupied by the Tridentine Alps, which extend in a circular form to the river Adige. The vicinity of the lake of Garda is also mountainous; but the other portions of the province, between the Adige and the Mincio, belong to the extended plains of Lombardy. Besides the rivers now mentioned, it is watered by the Tartaro, the Castagnaro, and the Polesina, which all finally empty themselves into the Po. Much of the land is sterile; but the south-west a part of it is moderately fertile, producing wheat, maize, rice, rye, flax, hemp, wine, and fruits of various kinds. A large quantity of silk is produced, and that product has been and still is increasing with the new mulberry trees planted from year to year. The woods provide timber, and the lakes and rivers abundance of fish. Some copper and some coal mines are worked, though not extensively. Of the wealth of this province, a very considerable portion is drawn from the quarries of marble and alabaster of which a great variety is raised, especially some of a green colour, very highly estimated.

a city, the capital of the delegation of the name. It stands on the river Adige or Eisach, by which it is divided into two unequal parts, and over which is a fine stone bridge of three arches, as well as three other. It is surrounded with walls defended by bastions, and had three castles, St. Felice and St. Pietro in the valley and Castello-vecchio on a hill, all now neglected. Its streets are generally narrow and crooked, and the squares or plazas are rather small. The houses are, many of them at least, of vast size, and the best of them, as well as the most eminent public buildings, are the work of the celebrated Palladio. The city contains 8964 houses, with 55,500 inhabitants. Besides the cathedral there are fourteen parochial, and forty-eight other churches. Many of them are ornamented with the best paintings. The celebrated Ascension of the Virgin by Titian, is in the cathedral. This city abounds with Roman antiquities; and among the most remarkable of them is the amphitheatre. It was constructed under the reign of the emperor Domitian, but an Italian antiquary, named Giuliani, maintains that the original foundation was an Etruscan work of very remote date. The exterior has at present rather a ruinous appearance, but the interior is in excellent preservation, though the place is disfigured by the erection of a small wooden theatre on the arena. It is of an oval form, and the arena or stage is 225 feet long, and 135 feet broad. From it arises, over each other, forty-eight rows of seats with passages by steps between these at intervals. The seats and steps are of marble. According to one writer, it can seat 22,000 spectators, but others have calculated it for a greater number, and one of them, Krickel, makes capable of seating 32,824. The access to the seats is easy, and the passages leading to them are spacious. It is kept in good repair, and when any part is broken or damaged it is replaced.