VERONA, vii-an4, Northern Italy, (1) A. city, capital of the province of the same name, 68 miles west of Venice, beautirnily situated on the Adige River where the last slopes of the Alps merge into the plains of Lombardy, on both sides of the Adige, whic.h traverses the city in a wild and rapid torrent, and is crossed here by six bridges. The town is surrounded by lofty walls flanked with towers and bastions, and is entered by five gates remarkable alike for solidity and beauty. Many of the streets, though narrow and crooked, are lined by splendid mansions, particularly rich in marble decorations, and there are several elepnt squares. New embankments and buildings along the Adige, numerous industrial establish ments, electric lighting, and street railroads are modern features. Among the more inter esting buildings is the Roman amphitheatre, oc cupying one side of the Piazza-Bra; it is sup posed to have been built in the 2d or 3c1 cen tury A.D. The interior is nearly perfect; it is in the form of an ellipse, the transverse axis of which is 510 feet, and the conjugate 410 feet; it is 106 feet high, and on the 45 tiers of steps 27,000 spectators could be accommodated. There are about 50 churches, many of them magnificent specimens of Gothic architecture, rich in paintings and other art treasures. The cathedral is an imposing Gothic structure of the 14th century. with a choir and Romanesque facade of the 12th; the church of Saint Zeno is a Romanesque basilica of noble proportions, with some interesting old statues and reliefs.; those of Saint Anastasia, Saint Giorgio and Saint Fermo Maggiore, should also be men tioned. The Palazzo del Consiglio, in the Piazza dei Signori, dates from the begintring of the 16th century; it is adorned with statues of celebrated natives of the town, among whom are Cornelius Nepos, Catullus, Pliny the Younger and Vitruvius. Close by are the im posing Gothic tombs of the Della Scala family (known also as the Scaligeri), who for upward of a century (1262-1389) were the lords of Verona. There are several theatres, a museum
with a valuable collection of antiquities, a pub lic library, hospitals and numerous literary and artistic institutions. The town carries on manu factures of silks, woolens, hats, etc., and has an important trade. Verona is supposed to have been founded in the 4th, and to have been subjected to the Romans in the 2d century n.c. On the decline of the Roman Empire it was taken by the Goths, and made by Theodoric the capital of his empire. In 774 it was captured by Charlemagne, and took a lead among the Italian cities wlule the power of the emperors in Italy lasted. It afterward became an inde pendent republic, but suffered much from the dissensions of its nobles, a state of affairs de picted by Shakespeare hi 'Romeo and Juliet.) Weary of the vicissitudes to which it had been subjected, it voluntarily ceded itself to Venice, under which it remained from 1405 to 1797. It then passed into the hands of the French, after ward into those of the Austrians, under whotn it possessed great strategic importance, as it formed a member of the celebrated °Quadri lateral? or four mutually supporting fortresses (Mantua, Verona, Peschiera and Legnago) which secured the Austrian position in north ern Italy, and formed the key to the Tyrol from the south. Here in 1822 the Congress of Ve rona, consisting of European monarchs and diplomats, under the leadership of Metternich, decided upon the suppression of the Spanish revolution by the intervention of the Holy Alli ance (q.v.). With the rest of Venetia, Verona was incorporated with Italy in 1866. Communal pop. about 85,000. (2) The province of Verona in the compartimento of Venice has an area of 1,185 square miles. It adjoins Austria on the north, Vicenza and Padua on the east, Ferrara on the south, and Mantua and the Lake of Garda on the west. This section was subject to air raids by the Austrians during the World War. Pop. (1918 est.) 475,000. Consult Allen, M. A., 'History of Verona' (New York 1910).