Travel · Italy
Verona Centro
550 mabout 7 min
Worth the walk
After the Arena, pass the town hall on the east side of Piazza Bra and go into Via Pallone, the street that grew along the city wall.
Walking this another time?
The walk · 550 m, about 7 min
Old Verona is easiest to follow from one place, Piazza Bra. The Arena is on the square, and on its east side is the town hall, Palazzo Barbieri.
Start at the Roman amphitheatre, see the front of the town hall, and leave by the road that follows the old defences.
Verona Arena, starting with the walk round it
Arena di Verona
Worth the stop
Piazza Bra 1A, in the centre of the old town.
The Romans built it around the middle of the 1st century for gladiators and animal hunts. Begin by walking round the outside. The surviving piece of the outer ring is called the Ala.
After the coming of Christianity it lost its purpose and served for a time as a quarry. Under Theodoric, stone from the outer ring went into Verona’s second wall.
Once you have been round it, cross to the east side of the square for the next building.
Settle before you come · Italy
Milan and Venice: do you need a guide?Take a guided tour if you want to go inside and have it explained, and would rather not sort out the entry rules and the dress code yourself. If you only want to walk and look from outside, go on your own.
If you want to go inside
Palazzo Barbieri, the town hall on the east side
If you have time
It stands between the Arena and the old Gran Guardia. About 250 m from the Arena, around 3 minutes.
Huge columns and a great porch rise over the square, so look once from a distance and once from close by. It was first named the Palazzo della Gran Guardia Nuova and housed people attached to the Austrian army.
It became the town hall in 1874. Badly damaged by air raids in the Second World War, it was restored and has housed the council again since 1950.
Inside are a vast painting by Felice Brusasorci and Paolo Farinati’s picture of the Veronese defeating Frederick Barbarossa in 1164.
Via Pallone, palaces and an old gate along the wall
Worth the stop
About 300 m from Palazzo Barbieri, around 4 minutes.
The street grew up along the city’s defences. On the left, look for the place where the wall opens wide into Via Pontiere, and beside it the Scaligeri tower of the late 12th century.
The gate at number 24 is worth finding. It belonged to a palace near Ponte Nuovo, and when that palace was pulled down in 1893 for the embankment, the gate was moved here.
The name comes from the ball court that stood here until the middle of the 19th century. On 16 September 1786 Goethe watched four men of Verona play four of Vicenza, and wrote it down in his Italian Journey.
If time is short, you can skip the inside of the town hall.