Verona

Sister cities

• Tirana

History

The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery along with the origin of its name. One theory is that it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po, the Veronese territory became Roman about 300 BC. Verona became a Roman in 89 BC. It was classified as a municipium in 49 BC, when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia. The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads. Stilicho, a military commander in the Roman army, defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 402. In 489, Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths, and the Gothic domination of Italy began. Theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War (535–552), except for a single day in 541, when the Byzantine officer Artabazes made an entrance. The defections of the Byzantine generals over booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city. In 552 the Romans under the general Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when the Goths were fully overthrown that they surrendered it. In 569, it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second most important city. There, Alboin was "killed by his own people with the connivance of his wife" in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last resistance in Verona to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona became the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951…

Geography

Verona has a humid subtropical climate characteristic of Northern Italy's inland plains, with hot summers and cool, humid winters, even though Lake Garda has a partial influence on the city. The relative humidity is high throughout the year, especially in winter when it causes fog, mainly from dusk until late morning, although the phenomenon has become less and less frequent in recent years.