Our tour starts at the Church of San Tommaso Cantuariense where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart held a concert in January 1770 using the great baroque organ still there. Even if Mozart did not see the Roman Theatre – it was still covered by rubble – we can visit it. In roman times music and a variety of musical instruments were necessary to help the spectators understand what was happening on stage. You can sit on the stone steps while we tell you the story of this theatre and the variety of performances held here in the past but also nowadays in summer.
The bell tower of the Cathedral shows how Church used music in many religious ceremonies. To aid the spread of these texts a ‘scriptorium’ was founded (today it is known as Biblioteca Capitolare) and in this building many liturgical books with musical notations were produced and illuminated and also a ‘Schola Cantorum’ was established. We cross the roman Ponte Pietra and you will surely hear the sound of the river as we head towards Piazza S. Anastasia to take a look at the Due Torri Hotel where Mozart stayed with his father. Nowadays many singers, in town for a concert, use these same rooms!
Walking past the modern Conservatory (where you might hear students practicing their scales) we reach the house of Maria Callas, the young singer that arrived in Verona in 1947, and lived a few years in town with her husband. In Piazza Brà, imagine in the Arena the sound of tubas and horns accompanying the gladiators during the procession which took place before the fighting started. The amphitheatre has always been used to entertain people: in 1822 Rossini conducted a concert in front of the most powerful rulers of Europe and nowadays it is famous all over the world for the opera performances held here since 1913. At the end of the square appears the Teatro Filarmonico, the theatre used in winter for opera performances, which has survived fire and war and has seen famous artists perform on its stage. In the ‘Ridotto’ (foyer) Mozart held such a memorable concert in front of the most important citizens of Verona that everyone spoke and wrote about it at the time.
DURATION: 2 hours (for extensions, please visit our Rates page)
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION: walking tour.
SUITED FOR: groups, schools, families, individuals, visitors with reduced mobility*
*Some parts of our tour have uneven surfaces and there are few steps along the way.
Entrance to Roman Theatre or to the Arena.
TOURIST BUSSES: check out www.amt.it for entrance fee to the city and parking fees.
CAR: Parking Arena, Parking Cittadella, Parking Isolo, Parking Centro.
All Parking areas are more or less a 10-15 minute walk from the Arena (Piazza Brà).
THIS TOUR IS AVAILABLE IN: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish and Japanese. Ask for the language you are interested in.
TO COMPLETE YOUR DAY: Museum of Castelvecchio, Museum of Modern Art, Church of S. Anastasia, the Cathedral.
FOR WHOEVER HAS AN EXTRA DAY: Lake Garda, Soave, Valpolicella, The Rice Road Tour.
We reserve the right to slightly modify this itinerary if necessary.
ASSOGUIDE is not responsible for changes in the opening hours of the various monuments.
Check the exact tariff based on your specific requests at the RATES page.
contact us specifying your preferences
Verona City Guide, di Assoguide Verona - CF 03238250231 - Via Giuseppe Maggi, 7 - 37121 Verona - Tel +39 3897628505 Email: [email protected]