Cryptoportique de Corte Sgarzerie
Dernière mise à jour le 9 novembre 2026À une minute de la piazza delle Erbe, sous une petite cour devant laquelle la plupart des gens passent, court une galerie romaine voûtée du Ier siècle av. J.-C.
C’est un cryptoportique — une arcade à demi enterrée dont la fonction était structurelle. Le forum de Vérone se tenait sur un terrain en pente, et cette galerie a été bâtie pour porter et mettre de niveau la terrasse sur laquelle s’élevait le Capitolium, le temple de Jupiter, Junon et Minerve.
La cour au-dessus s’appelle Corte Sgarzerie, d’après le commerce de la laine qui y travailla des siècles durant, et la loggia au-dessus de l’entrée porte le nom du mangano, la presse qui finissait le drap.
L’accès est irrégulier, et c’est là le principal à savoir.
La difficulté pour les visiteurs
Access is limited and irregular. The gallery is not on daily hours: it is unlocked for guided visits, heritage days and occasional events, and arriving to find it shut is the common experience rather than the unlucky one. The space itself is enclosed, low and artificially lit, reached by steps with uneven footing — it is not accessible, and it is not for anyone uncomfortable underground.
Conseils et stratégie de visite
Quand y aller
Whenever it is open -- that is genuinely the constraint here, and it is worth building a visit around an announced opening rather than hoping.
Heritage weekends in spring and autumn are the most reliable occasions, when Verona opens sites that are otherwise closed.
Summer has the practical appeal of being underground and cool while the city above is severe.
The courtyard can be seen at any hour, in any season.
En profiter vraiment
Ring ahead or check the municipal archaeology programme, and treat an announced opening as the thing you build the visit around. The gallery is unlocked for guided visits, heritage days and occasional events, not on daily hours, and turning up to find it shut is the common experience.
Go into the courtyard above even if the gallery below is closed — it is public, always open, and the loggia is worth the two minutes on its own. If you do get down, the thing to understand is that this is not a cellar: it is the retaining structure that held up the terrace the Capitolium stood on. Steps, uneven footing, low light; wear something sensible.
Ce que ça coûte
Nothing, at the weekend. The association that runs the site opens it every Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 13:00 with free admission — this is ordinary scheduled opening, not an occasional event, which is worth saying because this site has a reputation for being shut.
A guided visit costs €8 per person as a contribution to the association. Accompanied children under seven go free and those aged seven to fourteen pay €5; over-65s and university groups pay the same reduced rate. Groups of more than ten are asked to arrange it by email rather than arrive.
Book even though it is free. The operator warns that capacity is very limited and strongly advises reserving a place at archeonaute@gmail.com. A free site with a small footprint can fill, and there is no second room to wait in.
Outside the weekend it opens on request. The association will arrange opening and a guided visit on other weekdays for individuals or small groups, given several days' notice by email, and says it accommodates what it can.
Vérifié auprès de Archeonaute, novembre 2026.
S'y rendre et entrer
Entrée: Gratuit
L’accès est limité et irrégulier. Le site n’ouvre pas selon des horaires de musée quotidiens ; il est ouvert pour des visites guidées, des journées du patrimoine et des événements occasionnels.
Renseignez-vous auprès de l’office de tourisme de Vérone ou du programme archéologique municipal avant de vous déplacer pour lui. Arriver et le trouver fermé est l’expérience courante.
La cour au-dessus est publique et toujours ouverte, et vaut deux minutes à elle seule pour la loggia, même quand la galerie en dessous est inaccessible.
C’est à une minute à pied de la piazza delle Erbe, par la via Pellicciai.
Prévoyez trente minutes quand une visite a lieu.
La galerie est souterraine et s’atteint par des marches, avec un sol inégal et peu de lumière. Elle n’est pas accessible, et de bonnes chaussures aident.
Accessibilité du lieu
Nobody publishes how you get down there, and that is the honest answer. This is a half-buried Roman gallery entered from a courtyard, and the association that opens it describes the address, the hours and the booking address but not the route in. Its page carries a heading reading "Accessibilità e servizi", which looks like an accessibility statement and is not — everything underneath it is opening information.
What is known is the shape of the place. The archaeological area sits below the courtyard at Corte Sgarzerie 8p, and the operator warns that its capacity is very limited — a confined underground space with one way in and out, which is worth weighing if confined spaces or crowding are a problem.
Not published, and not guessed: whether the descent is by stair, ramp or lift, what the surface is underfoot, and whether a wheelchair can be accommodated at all. The association answers at archeonaute@gmail.com and arranges openings by email anyway, so the access question and the booking are one message.
The courtyard above is public, open at all hours and level, and its loggia is worth the two minutes on its own even when the gallery below is shut.
Informations essentielles
- Type: Lieu historique
- Entrée: Gratuit
- Réservation: Non requise — billets sur place
- Visite typique: Environ 25 minutes
- Construit: 1st century BC
- Construit pour: levelling the terrace of the Capitolium
- Style architectural: Romain
- A foundation that outlived its temple: The Capitolium above is entirely gone, quarried and built over. Its substructure survived precisely because it was underground and still useful.
- Named after finishing cloth: Sgarzerie comes from garzare, raising the nap on wool with teasels; the Loggia del Mangano above is named for the press that finished it. A medieval wool yard sits on a Roman temple platform.
- Site du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO: Oui
Où se trouve-t-il
Itinéraire Ouvrir dans Apple Plans
© OpenStreetMap contributors · © CARTO · 45.4428, 10.9964
Visite responsable
C’est un petit site archéologique peu encadré et non un musée avec du personnel. Quand il est ouvert, c’est généralement parce que des bénévoles ou des archéologues municipaux l’ont ouvert — restez avec le groupe et suivez ce qu’on vous demande.
Ne touchez pas les voûtes ni les piliers. La brique et le mortier romains dans un espace souterrain humide sont plus fragiles qu’ils n’en ont l’air.
Pas de flash là où on vous le demande, et tenez-vous au cheminement balisé ; le sol est inégal et en partie d’origine.
La cour au-dessus est entourée de logements et de commerces. Restez discret, en particulier en groupe.
Se présenter aux ouvertures annoncées est ce qui démontre qu’il existe une demande pour qu’un site comme celui-ci reste accessible.