The Basilica of San Zeno is the most beautiful church in Verona.
Originally built outside the city walls, on the burial site of the bishop and patron saint of Verona, the Basilica of San Zeno is one of the purest masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in Italy, and its noble presence is the signature feature of the whole neighborhood, with a number of medieval buildings surrounding it.
Near the church is the small, deconsecrated thirteenth-century church of San Procolo, an imposing tower that belonged to the ancient Benedictine monastery, and above all, the high bell tower, which rises above a garden to the right of the Basilica. This 72-meter-high construction was begun in 1054 and completed after about a century of work, with the pointed spire surrounded by four pinnacles. The distinctive chromatic effect is created by the alternating rows of red bricks and light tufa stone slabs.
The Basilica has a long, complex history. The early Christian building, plundered during the Barbarian invasions and damaged by an earthquake, remained in a state of abandon for a long time. The new Basilica was built between 1120 and 1138, a short time which can be noted in the architectural coherence of the complex.
Only the apse, renovated in the 14th century, features a different style, while a number of parts of the Benedictine abbey, closed during Napoleon’s time, remain visible.
The facade has taken on warm tones over the centuries. Divided into three parts, with sloping roofs at the sides, it is marked by slender columns and arches. In the center is a large circular window, known as the “wheel of Fortune”. The central part, around the canopied portal, is decorated with an extraordinary series of bas-reliefs, sculpted around 1138 under the direction of Maestro Nicolò, one of the most brilliant sculptors of the Romanesque age. His was the hand behind the scenes from the Old Testament on the right, while the episodes from the New Testament on the opposite side are the work of a sculptor named Guglielmo, who worked with him.
An interesting fact: the central door of the Basilica is almost always closed to protect the marvelous, but delicate, bronze doors, composed of 48 panels and created in the 12th century by a number of master craftsmen.
