Castelvecchio, Verona

Castelvecchio is the castle in Verona situated on the Adige River.

During nap time, I came upon the castle from the other side of the river. I crossed on the Ponte Scaligero. The bridge was built about the same time as the castle, mid- to late 1300s. The bridge was destroyed by retreating Germans in 1945. The Veronese loved the bridge so much that they rebuilt it, which included dredging the river to get the original masonry. The view of the castle was quite nice.

Castle with bridge

Bridge with castle

I crossed the bridge and saw a rather unusual guard.

No explanation available

The bridge had a nice, wide walkway and provided excellent views of the castle and the town.

Pedestrian and bicycles but no cars here

Tilted view of the castle

View from the bridge

Passing through the gate at the other end of the bridge, I saw some bits inside the castle.

Gateway into the castle

The well-guarded castle well (those are padlocks of love, like on many bridges)

Corner of the courtyard (museum patrons are crossing the walkway)

I headed out the other gate into town and had some more adventures.

The way out!

After nap time, we all went back to the castle to enjoy the fabulous art collection.

Another view of the courtyard

Courtyard fountain (Lucy wanted to throw coins in)

Inside the castle is an extensive art gallery, one of the largest in the region outside of Venice itself. One of the first things on display is the sarcophagus of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, dating from 1179.

Sarcophagus of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus (with Jacob hiding)

Roman era Christian art

Roman era statue

St Joseph?

Another thing we noted in Verona was the presence of lots of ladders in art. This use is a tribute to the della Scala (which means "ladder") or Scaligeri family who ruled in the 13th and 14th centuries. The bridge is named in their honor. We saw some ladders at the gallery.

Lucy poses

How did anyone ever see this before the gallery got a hold of it?

The gallery wound its way through the castle, so visitors could get a sense of its size and all the cool passages and tunnels through which people went back in the day.

Jacob peers at me through a secret passage

Us on top of the castle

Arty photo of Lucy; this patch of grass is on the top of the castle

Cool knight statue

Hiding in the shade

Castle clock

Another odd, arty shot from the castle top

After the visit, we wound our way through the streets to find some dinner. The food was quite wonderful and we saw many people dining before going to the opera. At least we assumed that was why they were in tuxedos.