Top Rated Attractions in Mantua

Verona's Studio la Città has been around since 1969, proudly displaying modern classics by a variety of artists. The gallery moved to a larger location in 2007, allowing it space to expand the scope of its offerings to include concerts, performances and more. Visit the website to see its full program.

Located outside the Verona city walls, this historic Roman amphitheater was built in the first half of the first century. It was designed to accommodate more than 30,000 spectators and hosted many number of events over the years, among them plays, battles, games, and even jousting competitions during the Middle Ages. Today, the excellent acoustics and sheer size of the Verona Arena lend themselves to grandiose operatic performances. In 1913, the amphitheater staged Verdi's Aida in honor of the Italian composer's 100th birthday, its first production of the 20th century. At once a grand venue and an ancient architectural jewel, the Verona Arena should certainly not be missed, be it for a night on the town or a cultural day tour.

Castelvecchio was founded in the mid-14th century at the behest of Cangrande II della Scala as a princely residence with a fortress. It was called the Castle of San Martino in Aquaro because it incorporated a small church dedicated to the saint. Over the centuries, it continued to have military functions - with the domination of Venice. It was the seat of an academy with Napoleon, and two new wings were added to the building. Then, with the Austrians, it played a strategic role in the fortification of Verona. In the 1920s, Verona municipality moved medieval and modern art sections from the Civic Museum to Castelvecchio. The present layout of the building and its exhibitions are the result of a major rehabilitation and construction between 1956 and 1973 by the architect Carlo Scarpa.

The civic natural history museum is in the 16th century Palazzo Pompei, a masterpiece by Sanmicheli. The building was given to the town in 1854 by Count Alessandro Pompei for it to become an exhibition site for scientific and ethnographic collections, and for renaissance artifacts and art collections. While there was a time when the natural collections were few in comparison to the rest, the collection grew quickly with the passage of time. There were problems of space and it was only in 1936 that the art collections were moved to other buildings. Palazzo Pompei became an exhibition space exclusively for natural science. At present, there are 19 rooms in which you can see more than 2,000,000 examples of the world's animals, plants, geology, paleontology and prehistory. The fossilized fish from Bolca are a major attraction. They are contained in a weir which is 45,000,000 years old.

Established in 1968, Galleria Dello Scudo is a contemporary art gallery that widens the art horizon of the city. Beautiful masterpieces by popular Italian artists like Gastone Novelli, Giuseppe Spagnulo, Toti Scialoja, Marco Gastini, and Salvatore Scarpitta. Entry to the gallery is free and the exhibitions keep changing. The gallery has been working in the field of art research by joining hands with international galleries and museums such as the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, The Phillips Collection, Washington, and Tate Gallery, London.

This obligatory port of call for any visitor to Verona is said to be the very residence that inspired Shakespeare in writing his most famous star-crossed lovers. Built in the 13th Century, this Gothic-style home once belonged to the dell Capello family, which fans of Romeo and Juliet will notice sounds strikingly similar to Juliet's last name: Capulet. It was built on the remains of a Roman insula, an ancient urban housing unit, and today plays host to a small museum filled with antiques from the 16th Century on. The site's famous balcony overlooks a courtyard renovated by Antonio Avena in 1935, which also features a bronze Juliet statue created by sculptor Nereo Costantini. History buffs and literature lovers often stop for a photo in front of the historic and romantic Casa di Giulietta.