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Piazza Brà is the largest square in the city of Verona, Italy. It’s lined with cafés and restaurants and has a few important buildings on it. The square is part of Verona’s UNESCO World Heritage listing.
Portoni della Brà
Starting with the southwest corner of the plaza, there’s a set of gates called Portoni della Brà. They were constructed by the Venetians in the 16th century as part of a redesign of the medieval city walls. The gates consist of two large arches made of marble with red bricks on the top. A clock was added in 1872.
Another older gate, Porta della Braida, once stood on the same spot. It was first mentioned in 1257 and stood until about 1483. That gate marked the boundary between the city and the countryside.
Garden
In the center of the square is a garden with tall trees and a fountain. There’s also a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy.
Liston
Along the west side of Piazza Brà is the liston, which is a common feature in Venetian cities. This is a wide walkway made of marble that is now used for outdoor seating by the many cafés and restaurants. It’s a very popular place for both tourists and locals to enjoy.
Verona Arena
The building that sticks out the most is the Verona Arena. This ancient Roman arena was built in the 1st century AD and could originally hold over 30,000 spectators. It’s now used as a concert venue.
Palazzo Barbieri
Verona’s city hall occupies the southeast corner of the square. It’s called Palazzo Barbieri and was constructed between 1836 and 1848. It originally housed staff of the Austrian army during their occupation of the city.
Palazzo della Gran Guardia
Finally, next to Portoni della Brà is the Palazzo della Gran Guardia. Work started in 1610 under the Venetians but it wasn’t completed until 1853. The original purpose was to house soldiers in bad weather. It’s used as a conference center today.
Via Mazzini
A pedestrian shopping street, Via Mazzini, starts at the end of the liston and connects Piazza Brà to Piazza delle Erbe. The street is made of marble and has several different stores located along it. Many of these stores sell luxury goods.
The street was super crowded during early evenings when we visited, most likely because of Christmas.
My favorite landmark on the street was a Capitoline Wolf located on a building at the corner of Via Quattro Spade, another shopping street. The building also happens to be the birthplace of Pietro Leonardi (1769-1844), an important Catholic priest who did many things to help the sick and the poor.
Christmas in Piazza Brà
As I mentioned earlier, we visited Verona during Christmas. At this time there was an outdoor ice skating rink located in the Piazza Brà between the liston and Verona Arena. The square was full of people on Christmas Day enjoying the holiday.
It was also nice to see the square lit up at night.
You may have noticed the shooting star monument in some of my photos above. It has been erected every Christmas since 1984 and symbolizes the star that led the three wisemen to the birthplace of Jesus. It reaches a height of 70m and is connected to the Arena di Verona.
