San Bernardino da Siena, Verona

A picturesque Franciscan church in Verona is hidden in the area between the old Roman ruins and the glorious San Zeno basilica. It's the Chiesa Francescana di San Bernardino da Siena.

What the church looks like after you discover how to get there

As I approached the church, I entered by the most discreet door ever.

That's it, behind the van

Inside is a courtyard that has many fine frescoes.

Fresco of Francis watching over his spiritual disciples

Again, Francis watches over from Heaven

The main door has a nice simplicity with only a few statues adorning it.

Front door, with St. Francis receiving the stigmata at the top

Inside are the typical items you'd find in any church: baptismal font, organ, pulpit in the side of the wall. Wait, what?

Baptismal font

Organ on the wall

Side altar and side pulpit?

The church has many glorious side altars.

Altar to St. Anthony, another popular Franciscan saint

The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven

Altar of the Crucifixion

Glorious ceiling of one of the side altars

The main altar also looked quite impressive, but I could not get close as a concert was being performed. I did get some dirty looks from the audience. I ignored them.

A large singing group kept me from getting too close (or a better picture)

On my way out, I noticed a rather ornate stand with the lectionary open to the day's readings. I liked the dove to the left but the candle to the right is a little too reminiscent of Adam and Eve's apple.

Too bad I can't read Italian

Outside, I discovered the regular gate for the church, which is neither super-glorious nor super-humble like the way I came in.

A nice gate

Who was Saint Bernardine of Siena?

Bernardino was born in Siena in 1380 of a wealthy family and was orphaned at six years of age. He was raised by pious aunts. In his youth he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady and worked at a hospital. He served there during a plague and eventually gave away all his riches and became a Franciscan. He became a famous preacher and inspired many reforms. When he preached, people would make bonfires and put small objects of temptation (like cosmetics or playing cards) on them, the origin of the phrase "bonfire of the vanities." He also preached devotion to the holy name of Jesus, encouraging towns to put up the initials "IHS" in a sunburst on their churches and civic buildings. His role was critical in the restoring the Order of the Friars Minor in Italy. He died in 1444 and was canonized by Pope Nicholas V in 1450.

Basilica of San Zeno, Verona, Italy

The Basilica of San Zeno, known as San Zeno Maggiore, is located a bit away from all the other attractions in Verona, making it a place you really need to visit on purpose and not just take in as you are enjoying Roman ruins or pseudo-Shakespearean homes.

Built between 1120 and 1138, it is dedicated to the patron saint of Verona, Saint Zeno. More about him later. The church is one of Italy's finest examples of the Romanesque style.

The exterior of the church is quite exquisite, boasting of a 273 foot bell tower.

San Zeno in Verona

The bell tower of San Zeno

The west doors are also amazing. Built in the 12th century like the rest of the church, it has 24 bronze plates depicting various scenes from the lives of the saints. Flanking the door are two massive marble bas reliefs, as well as another above the doors depicted San Zeno himself.

The bronze-paneled doors

Marble sculpture on right

Marble sculpture on left

Saint Zeno flanked by the Veronese population

Inside is a high-vaulted nave that leads up to the raised area for the main altar. This layout follows the style of the Roman basilicas, which were halls of justice that lead to the judge's raised seat. Just before the altar is a shrine to Saint Zeno.

Nave

Zeno's coffin? Everything else says he is buried below in the crypt.

The main altar features an altarpiece by Mantegna (c. 1457) and an amazing ceiling.

Main altar

Ceiling

Off to the left of the altar is a statue of Zeno from the 12th century. He features a delightful Romanesque grin and seems to be using his shepherd's crook for some fishing.

Front view of St. Zeno

Fisher of men, indeed!

A smiling saint

Going down into the crypt is slightly spooky, with the forest-like columns supporting the main altar. Zeno's remains have been buried here since the 10th century.

Stairs up to the main altar and down to the crypt

Not as well lit

Just as well decorated

The main body of the church features dozens of frescoes from different eras. Some of the frescoes have even been painted over other frescoes!

Even the columns!

Madonna and Child, not just for statues

Fresco on fresco

Ever popular St. George and the dragon and the princess

Another Madonna and child

St. Christopher is big, really big, here

Here's some other stuff that I thought was cool.

It's all Greek to me

What's more dangerous than a lion who reads?

Unidentified saint down in the crypt

Who was Saint Zeno?

Details of Zeno's life are sketchy. He was born in northern Africa and came to Italy as a young man. He became a monk in Verona until he was appointed bishop in 362. He was the eighth bishop of Verona and died 380. Legends say he had a zeal for converting pagans and Arians to the true faith and worked tirelessly for the people of the town. About 90 of his sermons have been preserved. In addition to being the patron of Verona, he is also the patron of fishermen and anglers, newborn babies, and children learning to walk and talk. His feast day is April 12.

See the Butler's Lives of the Saints entry on him here.

Leaving Verona, Venice, and Italy

We woke up early on Monday to take the train from Verona back to Venice where we would catch our flight back to England. Things went quite smoothly since we had packed most everything the night before. We were able to eat a light breakfast and hit the road by 7 a.m. Our first stop was the Verona train station. We saw some last sights along the way.

Walking to the train station let us see the canal that bypasses the downtown loop of the River Adige.

Canal Camuzzoni (taken from a bridge)

Canal exit (the sign is wrong, it's not stairs, it's a ladder)

We also saw an impressive but unidentified church near the train station.

Church on the way out of town, not sure what style(s) it is built in

The train ticket was easy to get though no one on the train ever checked our ticket. I guess the threat of a 50 euro fine makes everyone behave. Speaking of well behaved,  the children were fine on the long train ride, enjoying the views and the electronic entertainment we had brought along.

In Venice we had to switch to a bus to get to the airport. Luckily our wait was very short. But not too short to stop Lucy from getting one last gelato before departing. She was nice enough to share some with me.

Getting through Marco Polo Airport also went smoothly, though I was selected for a more invasive search. The guy doing the search said I was randomly selected and it was my lucky day. I smiled and submitted. It actually wasn't very invasive and it hardly slowed us down. I guess cooperating with a minor inconvenience keeps it as minor as possible. The flight went well and we made it home with plenty of happy memories of food, art, architecture, bridges, and tortellini. We can't wait to go back to Italy, though maybe in a cooler month.

Sunday Afternoon in Verona

Getting back to our new digs (we had to move from the five-star hotel into the studio apartment we had originally rented, which had been overbooked for Saturday night), we made some pasta for lunch and put the kids to sleep.

My wife and I took turns exploring Verona while the children napped. We both went separately to the Basilica of San Zeno, the most spectacular church in Verona (recommended by all the guide books we'd read), and that will get its own post soon. I also saw a lot of little interesting things before the kids woke up.

Several small military installations (including a hospital) are found in Verona. Many of them feature rather intimidating signs. Even though it was in Italian, I was taken aback by this sign.

If you call now, snipers are standing by!

Less intimidating but still off-putting was this sign recommending an upcoming show in town. Clearly they are trying to cash in on America's recent interest in musicals, especially ones set in high schools.

I assume the title is more impressive looking if you don't know English

I also ran across a dapper looking gent whose name I've forgotten.

Scientist? Poet? Haberdasher?

I also ran across San Bernardino da Siena church, a Franciscan parish that will also get its own post soon.

Going back to the apartment, the kids were ready for some more adventures. We'd seen most of the nearby sights so we decided to wander along the little defensive mounds around the town.

The little hills seemed to be one long park around the city

The walls they had before the hills?

We also took the time to look more closely at one of the main gate buildings found on the edge of town.

The road just goes around it now, rather than through it

A tunnel going down to ???

A tunnel going through to the other side

We wound up at the same playground we visited in the morning. We stayed to take as much advantage of the sunny day as possible. A large group was there celebrating what seemed to be a child's birthday. We stayed clear of the party. Lucy had the most fun this time.

Lucy spins on a big tire

Lucy spins on a fun pole

I was able to get some of the delightful flora on film, too.

Sunshine in plant form

We had our last round of yummy Italian dinner at the apartment, finishing off the pasta and sauce from lunch. The kids were a lot less frantic in the hotel room, or at least it seemed like they were. Maybe we parents are just overly sensitive in restaurants. We had to hit the road by 7 a.m. the next morning, so we all went to bed early, even me. I still had to catch up from going to the opera the night before. We had sweet dreams for sure.