Just ahead, you’ll spot Corso Santa Anastasia as a narrow, lively street bustled between terracotta rooftops and colorful facades, heading straight towards the tall brick bell tower of the basilica in the distance.
Now, let your imagination loose on this avenue-Corso Santa Anastasia, the heartline of Verona for centuries. In Roman days, this street was part of the city’s main artery, the grand decumano massimo, where togas and legionnaires would cross from the ancient Porta Borsari all the way to the long-lost Ponte Postumio. Picture a parade of chariots here, only now the horses have become smartly dressed locals… but the drama remains! In the 1300s, it was simply “Il Corso,” and people wandered it searching for gossip fresher than the morning bread. The street got its current mouthful of a name after Veneto joined Italy in 1866, though it’s had more identity changes than a secret agent-Corso Felice Cavallotti, Corso Francesco Crispi, and, finally, back to Santa Anastasia after the Second World War.
At the beginning of the street, look out for a humble Madonna with Child, painted in the late 1700s and rediscovered under layers of dust in 1949. Opposite, the Mazzanti houses once flashed a gigantic Laocoonte on their walls-a sort of ancient comic strip. And if walls here could blush, it’d be knowing that even the mighty Scaligeri family, Verona’s medieval rulers, lived among these humble blocks. Look for the courtyard at number 12: it belongs to the grand Palazzo del Podestà, each corner built by someone from a different century, like a real-life architectural family reunion. The journey ends with the Renaissance elegance of number 29, where windows are framed in red Verona marble. Just imagine Dante’s son, Pietro Alighieri, working as a judge here-Verona’s legal dramas could surely inspire a soap opera of their own! The street is truly a parade of eras, legends, and local quirks all strutting in the sunlight.
