First step a brisk climb up the Scalone Castello San Pietro. See you at the top!
😅Made it!
While the wall provides an exterior ring around the city the looping river was the last line of defence.
The view form Castel San Pietro is always breathtaking!
From here too we catch a glimpse of the outer wall on the skyline that we're gonna follow.
This isn't the wall I'm looking for!
That's more like it!
Back in the city Porta Vescovo is the ancient east gateway to Verona.
Nearby at Bastione delle Madallena there is a fantastic exhibition deep in the bowels of the wall that explains the construction and development of the city's defensive system. From inside you get a sense of the depth of the construction.
At this spot 18 year old Luigi Lenotti was shot by the Austrians in 1860.
Some typical sections of wall to the east of the city. centre
At this section you get a really good sense of the scale of the fortifications.
Memorial to fallen partisans in the most recent conflict fought on this soil.
Before we hit the city traffic!
And now we've hit the river again that forms the natural defence. We'll pick up the wall again on the other side!
Fantastic view as we cross the Adige. On the skyline you can trace the wall that we just followed.
Then we climb back onto the green oasis of the wall where there is even a colony of turtles!
The proud flags at Porta Nuova
Memorial to the massacre of Cefalonia
Austrian era fortifications
The open air festival on the walls will run all summer
Verona's family of turtles!
And finally (because I like my tours to have a happy ending)... The shady kiosk at San Zeno.
A really great urban run this morning following the ancient city walls and exploring some of the green spaces that encircle Verona. Plenty of history, culture and nature along the way as well!
Today I'm going on a pilgrimage. I hope you can join me.
The bar above should have been the first stop of the tour but as you can see, it's closed. If you've read my book you may recognize the name. Look closely at the picture.
Francesco Viviani was a leading figure in the Veronese resistance. He was killed at Buchenwald in April 1945.
Deciding to escape from Verona for the day, our objective was Fontanellato, a small town in north western Italy, approximately 20 kilometres west of Parma.
Fontanellato is home to the Santuario Basilica della Beata Vergine del Santo Rosario, a Dominican sanctuary that commemorates a succession of miracles dating back to 1628. Monastic chanting provides a haunting backdrop to our brief tour of the convent.
The Rocca Sanvitale is a fortress-residence located in the centre of Fontanellato. Its origins can be traced back to the 13th century. Until as recently as the 1930s it was home to the descendants of the first Count of Sanvitale.
⚽️Hellas never won at San Siro
⚽️Milan top league with most wins (5) and top goalscorer (Ibra/8)
⚽️both sides strong defensively (4 clean sheets each in last 8 games)
⚽️Verona conceded just 3 goals this season
⚽️Empereur to drop to bench? hellas1903.it/news/romance-a…
Some opera on Sunday!
This one will be familiar to anyone who has been to the Bentegodi!
Rare start for Dawidowicz this evening. But where? In midfield? Man marking Ibra?