Basilica of San Zeno, Verona

Basilica of San Zeno, Verona tickets: which one to buy

A small ticket covers the basilica and is also sold as part of the Verona church card, which admits you to San Zeno, the cathedral, Sant'Anastasia and San Fermo for about the price of two separate entries; that is the obvious buy. Audio guides are available. Guided tours of Verona include San Zeno and cost several times the card.

The basilica stands in its own quarter about twenty minutes on foot west of the arena, or a short bus ride, which is why many visitors skip it and why it is never crowded. Nothing needs booking. Entry is free during mass and on Sunday mornings, when the tourist route is closed. The church card is sold at any of the four churches and at the tourist office on Piazza Bra.

Visiting Basilica of San Zeno, Verona: what to see

Zeno, an African-born bishop, died in Verona around 380 and was buried here; the church over his tomb was rebuilt by Pepin of Italy in 806, wrecked by Magyar raids, and rebuilt again from the late eleventh century into the Romanesque basilica that stands now. Its bronze doors are the great object: forty-eight panels cast in the eleventh and twelfth centuries with scenes from the Bible and the life of Zeno, in a stiff, forceful style that owes nothing to classical models. The porch rests on two lions and is flanked by marble reliefs of the Creation and of Theodoric hunting on horseback into hell.

Inside, an open timber roof shaped like a ship's keel covers the nave, a raised presbytery stands over a wide crypt, and Mantegna's altarpiece of 1459 sits in the apse. Shakespeare set the marriage of Romeo and Juliet here. The crypt holds the tomb of San Zeno in a modern glass case, and forty-nine columns with carved capitals carry the presbytery above. A porphyry basin of Roman date stands in the north aisle, and a statue of San Zeno known locally as the laughing saint sits in the presbytery with a fish on his crozier.

Basilica of San Zeno, Verona opening hours and the best time to go

Open Monday to Saturday from morning to evening with a break at midday and on Sunday afternoons only; hours shorten from November to February. The bronze doors are best seen in the morning when the sun is on the west front. Verona is busiest during the opera season in the arena from June to September, though San Zeno takes little of that traffic. The crypt is cool and the church is unheated.

Dress code is applied. Photography without flash is allowed. Allow forty-five minutes. The Castelvecchio museum is fifteen minutes back towards the centre and the Adige riverside walk connects the two. The quarter around the basilica has its own festival in May with stalls along the canal. The cloister on the north side is included in the ticket and is where most visitors spend the second half of their time.