Villafranca

The Scaligeri stronghold on the Verona flatland

Thanks to its strategic position, Villafranca of Verona was of great military importance during the era of the Scala family and during the Renaissance.

The elegant and stately Castle was once connected to the rocks of Nogarole and Valeggio, forming the Seraglio, a long line of fortified walls punctuated with towers and forts, of which few traces remain.

Inside the walls there are seven small towers, called Torresine. These towers are exceptional settings for concerts and events.

Villafranca had a strategic role during the Risorgimento, and in 1859 it was involved in an important meeting between the Emperor Francis Joseph I and Napoleon III, to end one of the bloodiest military campaigns of the nineteenth century. The meeting became known as the Peace of Villafranca and was a prelude to the unification of Italy.

The Museum of the Risorgimento is found inside the stately Gandini-Morelli-Bugna building, the building where the truce was signed. This Museum reminds us that the city was the general headquarters for Piedmont.

Among the other buildings to visit are the Oratory of San Giovanni della Paglia, built by the Knights of Malta, whose emblem is visible on the facade, and the Oratory of San Rocco, the remarkable facade is completely covered with frescoes.

Other places of interest include the Church of the Discipline or of the Visitation, that holds the mortuary and a precious set of nine wooden statues and the Duomo of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, an almost identical copy of the Church of the Redeemer of Venice.

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