Piazza delle Erbe Site Features

The square is long and narrow because it follows the shape of the Roman forum beneath it, and its buildings are a cross-section of every period Verona has had since.

Casa Mazzanti carries sixteenth-century frescoes across its front -- the best surviving example in the square of the painted facades that once made Verona known as urbs picta, the painted city.

Palazzo Maffei, of 1668, closes the north end: a Baroque front with a balustrade carrying statues of six gods, and the most theatrical building here.

The Torre del Gardello beside it is fourteenth-century, and the Torre dei Lamberti rises behind the eastern side.

Two free-standing monuments mark the square's civic functions: the Colonna di San Marco of 1523, carrying the Venetian lion, and the Berlina, the canopied tribune where officials were installed and where public punishments were carried out.

At the centre is the Madonna Verona fountain of 1368.

Madonna Verona

The fountain at the centre incorporates an ancient Roman statue adapted in the fourteenth century as Madonna Verona, a personification of the city.

Palaces and painted façades

Palazzo Maffei closes the northwest end of the square, while the Mazzanti Houses preserve Verona's tradition of exterior fresco decoration. Torre dei Lamberti rises above the adjoining civic complex.

Piazza delle Erbe is an elongated, irregular space enclosed by buildings from different periods. Painted façades, arcades, towers and the Baroque front of Palazzo Maffei create a layered urban setting rather than a formally uniform square. Torre dei Lamberti rises above its southeastern edge, providing a visual landmark from within the piazza.

Market stalls and café terraces change the square's appearance through the day. Narrow passages connect it to Piazza dei Signori and the surrounding pedestrian streets, making it both a destination and a busy route through the historic centre.