_Verona and its Crown of Castles_
There is another side of Verona to be studied apart from that connected
with her glorious churches and other buildings. To wander through the
squares and streets, studying the battlements and towers, and noting the
outdoor existence, so to speak, of the town is necessary to a thorough
understanding and enjoyment of the place. In this way we shall realise
the balconies which form so beautiful and special a feature in the
picturesque loveliness of the town, and of which Ruskin speaks as
follows: “The chief city of Italy, as regards the strict effect of the
balcony, is Verona; and if we were once to lose ourselves among the
sweet shadows of its lonely streets, where the falling branches of the
flowers stream like fountains through the pierced traceries of the
marble, there is no saying whether we might be able to return to our
immediate work.”[69]
Nor must the doorways be overlooked, those grand old arches of red
Verona marble--generally of Renaissance style--denoting the entrance to
many a noble palace, and often, alas! being the only trace now left of
some once princely residence. The acquaintance thus gained of the
exterior of the town will lead us on maybe to more outlying places, and
tempt us to make expeditions to some of the old castles which stand
around Verona. Of these castles mention will only be made of those which
still boast of standing walls, or of ruins which are sufficiently
imposing to be worth a visit, and whose beauty or historic merit will
reward the trouble taken to reach them. Four of such castles, Montorio,
Illasi, Tregnano, Soave, stand on the left bank of the Adige; on the
right bank the castles--five in number--are Villafranca, Valeggio,
Nogarole, Sanguinetto, Sirmione.
There is little to be said about some of these castles from an historic
point of view. Their origin is lost in the remote past; and in cases
such as those of Montorio and Tregnano it can only be said that they
formed strong fortresses in the line of defence above Verona, and were
additional gems in the crown poised above the city, and which
contributed at once to her beauty and security. Montorio would certainly
seem to have dated from the time of the Romans, were it only for the
amount of coins and inscriptions belonging to that period which have
been found there. Tregnano, lying in the valley of Illasi, is of an
older date, according to Cipolla, than Soave, though of smaller
proportions. The chief point of interest yet remaining is a grand old
pentagonal tower. From this a wall branches out which surrounds the
castle and which has small towers at intervals, all of a most simple
form. More than one fine castle stands in this same valley of Illasi,
but the best known is the one which takes its name from the valley. It
was presented to the Scaligers by Pope Nicholas III., and, with the
other possessions of the della Scalas, shared the same fate that made
the lords of Milan, and of Padua, and the Venetian Republic, owners in
turn of their goods and wealth. In the sixteenth century Illasi passed
into the hands of the Veronese patricians, the Counts Pompei; and their
villas and houses form one of the
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE VILLA OF CATULLO]
chief features of the site, situated as they are at the foot of the hill
on which is perched the castle, and from where Ruskin wrote the
beautiful description of the view obtained from here, and which is given
in chapter x., p. 229.
In 1885 Count Antonio Pompei, the last direct descendant of this great
family, died. These Counts of Illasi, who had received their title from
the Venetian Republic early in the sixteenth century (with the
obligation of offering every year a wax taper of the value of a ducat to
the Church of St Mark in Venice), received many and lasting honours from
other states and sovereigns. The Emperor Charles V. conferred the rights
of citizens of Milan on them; the same privilege with regard to the town
of Mantua was granted by Duke Ferdinand Charles; and Henry IV. allowed
them to quarter the lilies of France on their shield. This last Count of
Illasi (whose family is now merged in that of the Counts Perez) was a
worthy descendant of a long line of jurisconsults, lawyers, writers,
poets, ambassadors, generals and knights. He was himself an
archæologist, and a writer too on such matters. He had been present in
his youth at the demolition of an old wall of the Castle of Illasi, and
on that occasion came across a sad and undoubted evidence of a tragedy
that had occurred in his family many hundreds of years previously. The
skeleton of a woman was found in this wall, heavily laden with chains,
and the story goes that it was certainly that of the Countess Ginevra,
the wife of Count Girolamo Pompei, whose infidelity to her husband had
been avenged in this awful way. No hope of escape for the wife whom he
knew false! No mercy for her who had proved unfaithful! Only the chains
weighing heavily on her young and lovely limbs; the wall slowly closing
in upon her; the lingering death of agony and starvation; the remorse
when alone she faced her doom;--can a fate more terrible be imagined? or
a vengeance more complete have been exacted?
The last castle on the left bank of the Adige, that of Soave, is without
doubt the most interesting of all these strongholds, and should
certainly not be left unvisited. The tramway which starts just outside
the Porta Vescovo takes one there in a good hour. The journey lies
through a flat country, fertile with corn, maize, and vines, and leading
up to the hills which rise “on and always on” till they are lost in the
distant horizon. A short walk under an avenue of “Paulownia Imperialis”
leads to the old town, which is girt with a circuit of brick
battlemented walls, perfect both as to condition and construction. A
grand double archway, on which is carved the arms of the Scaligers,
opens into the town, while at its further end is a stone pathway which
leads up a steep incline to the castle perched on the top. The position
is splendid, overlooking miles of plain, and bounded on the northern
side by the heights of Monte Lessini. The building takes us back in
fancy to some of our old Norman fortresses, for here too is the moat,
the drawbridge, the portcullis, and all that goes to form a feudal
stronghold. The moat though is now dried up and overgrown with
vegetation, and the walls are of brick as opposed to stone, albeit of
such beautiful masonry as to arouse no sense of disparaging comparison.
Crossing the drawbridge under a grand archway with the portcullis set in
the brickwork, we gain the first courtyard, which opens again through
another doorway into a second and inner courtyard. The banqueting hall
probably stood here of old, or it may be the kitchen, to judge from the
outline of a huge chimney which can yet be traced clearly and which
evidently once towered high up into the air. From here, stooping low
under a small archway, we come into an enclosed square, not large as to
circumference, but shut in to the extent of some sixty feet in height.
Prisoners or criminals were thrown down into this hold, and those who
did not die of the shock or fall (and they would be the exceptions) were
left to linger till death released them from their sufferings. A fine
old well stands in the last and inner courtyard, its edges worn away
inside with the marks of the ropes which for centuries have performed
their office of drawing water--and very good water too--from the old
well. On the ground floor of this portion of the castle is a vaulted
chamber said to have been the guard-room, and from there a narrow
staircase leads up to the only part of the building that would be
habitable did its owner choose to live in it. The rooms, consisting of a
bedroom, sitting-room and dining-room, are kept though more for show
than for use; and from the dining-room one passes through a small
anteroom up a narrow stone staircase on to the battlements. An excellent
view is had from here of the castle itself, its turrets, inner courts,
grass slopes, and steep parapets, to the little town sheltering in true
feudal fashion at the foot of the castle. The city walls are also
clearly discernible from this height, forming as they do an
uninterrupted square of turreted walls, each turret or tower equidistant
from its neighbour, and presenting as perfect an example of a mediæval
stronghold as can well be seen anywhere. The good woman who acts as
“custode” has a ready story of how the Scaligers who built and owned
this fortress existed long before the birth of Christ, and had indeed
inhabited it in those far-off ages. The real tale is that the name of
Soave came from a colony of Swabians (Svevi or Suabi) who came into
Italy, with Otho I. of Germany, and settled there. It is also very
probable that the Romans had once built on those heights and laid the
foundations of the citadel which the Scaligers perfected in after times.
Such an hypothesis gains ground from the number of Roman coins, pins,
fibulæ, inscriptions, stones, and so forth that have been found in and
around Soave, and that are all collected and kept in the old castle. Its
present state of preservation is owing to the Senator Camuzzoni, whose
one thought and care has been to restore the castle on its original
lines and guard it intact from injury or decay.
Soave is also celebrated for an excellent white wine which hails from
there; by no means feeble as to character, and as famous in its way as
its red neighbour from the Val Policella. Another white wine, also very
good, is made at Soave, called Vino Santo. This however is sweet, and
commends itself more as a liqueur than as a beverage. The little town
too is full of interest, and many an hour might be whiled away in this
mediæval hamlet did the castles lying on the right bank of the Adige not
claim a passing notice in their turn.
The first of these in geographical order is the castle of Villafranca
Veronese, so called to distinguish it from the other seven and twenty
Villafrancas which are said to lie scattered over the face of the globe.
It lies between Verona and Mantua, and owes its fame in modern days to
the peace signed here, 12th July 1859, between the Emperors of Austria
and France, when Lombardy was ceded to Italy, and a very forward step
taken in the events which culminated in Italian unity and independence.
The cause that led originally to the erection of the fortress was as
follows:--The Veronese had built a castle at Ostiglia on the Po, a
castle that was of all-important moment to them from a military and
commercial point of view. The frequent
[Illustration: CASTLE OF SIRMIONE]
inundations of the river had damaged the fort, and the Veronese saw fit
to repair it. The inhabitants of Mantua were annoyed that this frontier
town should be put into a condition to resist their incursions, and they
determined to molest the works, or if possible to prevent them
altogether. This resolution annoyed the Veronese not a little. The
Mantuans however persisted, and finally both parties resorted to arms.
The Veronese were victors in the fight; but the Mantuans only prepared
for further action, and resolved on being revenged. To guard against any
surprises the Veronese set to work to erect a fort in an advanced and
advantageous spot, and chose Villafranca for the purpose. The works were
at once begun; in 1202 the castle was finished, and a good body of
soldiers were placed in it to guard against any attack or invasion from
the south. The walls and bastions are of remarkable solidity and
thickness, and the fortress of Villafranca may certainly rank as one of
the strongest and most imposing to be seen in Italy. The sole object of
its erection was for defence, and it has fulfilled its purpose
absolutely. Scenes of violence, of siege, and of fire have occurred
within its walls, but no tales of love or romance, which for the most
part lighten the story of many a gloomy massive pile, are forthcoming
from the sombre stronghold of Villafranca. It was closely besieged in
1233 by Ezzelino da Romano, when several Guelph leaders from Verona and
the neighbourhood defended it. The people of Mantua at that epoch
supported the Guelph faction and took the part of Riccardo da
Sambonifacio against the Ghibellines. To strengthen themselves against
these incursions of the Mantuans, the people of Verona aided their
Podestă Enrico d’Egna to add to the fortress of Villafranca, and a
massive tower (such as is to be seen in well-nigh every mediæval
fortress of importance) was built, together with a moat. The love of
building possessed to such a remarkable degree by the Scaligers was
brought into play by them at Villafranca; and Mastino II. wishing to
protect himself still further against Mantua, began the erection of the
great wall known as the “Serraglio,” and leading from Villafranca
towards the enemy’s territory. The outbreak of a pestilence in Verona in
1349 (the very year in which the “Serraglio” was begun) stopped the
work, which was finished under Cangrande II., the son and successor of
Mastino II. This stupendous work, consisting of towers at stated
intervals with ditches and moats behind which to shelter the peasants
with their flocks and herds, brought Villafranca almost into touch with
Valeggio (another castle soon to be mentioned) and acted as a mighty
rampart between the territory belonging to Verona, and that owned by the
lords of Mantua.
In 1404 the inhabitants of Mantua took refuge within the fortress of
Villafranca to protect themselves against the forces of Galeazzo
Gonzaga, who was determined to become lord of Mantua, and whose rule met
with bitter opposition. The men of Mantua set fire to their houses and
fled with their wives and children and chattels to the rock of
Villafranca. Gonzaga irritated at this opposition resolved to quell it
and assaulted the fort with violence. In vain he tried every artifice
that strength and ingenuity could suggest. His forces were driven back
at every point. He lost heavily, and retired at length after three days
of uninterrupted attack to Vigasio, resolved to return with renewed
forces and take vengeance on the bold defenders of their homes and
hearths. Other sieges took place at Villafranca often and again in the
course of the fifteenth century, but neither then nor in later times
were its strongholds or towers destroyed by foe or fire, and it stands
to this day a marvel of strength and resistance, its sternness softened
by the nursery gardens kept within its courtyards where the grace and
beauty of vegetable life contrast in soft and gentle harmony with the
solidity and masonic craft of bygone ages.
At a distance of five miles from Villafranca is the castle of Valeggio
on the banks of the Mincio. It was either built or rebuilt by Cangrande
II. della Scala, and may very probably have been set up by that prince
as the complement to the great wall of the “Serraglio” which was
finished during his reign. It boasts a number of subterranean passages,
vaults, and dungeons, and together with Borghetto, which stands on the
opposite height, occupies an important military position, commanding the
passage of the Mincio. The view from the castle terrace is not only
grand, but full of interest and association for every lover of Italian
history and of Italian independence. On one side is to be seen a stately
old square tower, which stands above the memorable field of Solferino.
On another side is the Tower of San Martino, and again to the West rises
high in the distance the column that marks where the bones of the dead
were laid to rest after the “day of pride and sorrow” of Custozza.
Valeggio is celebrated too for the marvellous stone bridge constructed
by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan at the close of the fourteenth
century to strengthen himself against Francesco Gonzaga, lord of Mantua.
To relate all the intrigues and quarrels which led to the erection of
this bridge over the Mincio would be out of place here; suffice it to
say that it was laid on a Roman substructure, and had high gateways with
towers at each end, while the arches of the bridge spanned the river.
Only one arch remains now, but the ruin shows what a colossal work it
was, worthy even in its decay of the titles of “famous,” “gigantic,”
“most noble,” and “magnificent” that have been lavished on it by
different writers. The ulterior purpose of the bridge is yet a matter of
discussion, and historians are still at variance as to whether Gian
Galeazzo built the bridge with the intent to alter the course of the
river, or to raise for himself a causeway into the Veronese territory.
History and tradition have alike little to say about Nogarole, beyond
the fact that it was built by Mastino II. della Scala against the
Mantuans. The old castle, situated at no great distance from
Villafranca, no doubt derived its name at some time or other from the
family of Nogarola, a family which figured so often and so honourably in
the story of Verona, and of whom the last remaining member died only a
few years ago.
Sanguinetto is one of the few castles under discussion that has no
associations with the great house of the Scaligers beyond the fact that
Bartolomeo and Antonio della Scala gave over the castle in 1376 to their
general Jacopo del Verme. It has, in common with all the villages and
towns in the province of Verona, many and evident traces of Roman life
and habits. The castle was the scene of much fighting in the Middle
Ages, and that it was used also as prison is clearly proved by the
discovery made there some fifty years ago of a skeleton in armour which
was found enclosed in the walls. The grand old castle was sadly damaged
in 1800, and what has escaped the ravages of time and the destroying
hand of man is now preserved with care by the municipality, and used for
public offices.
It only remains now to speak of Sirmione, the most interesting perhaps
after Soave, of the sites around Verona, and which the traveller should
on no account omit to visit. The Peninsula of Sirmione on the Lake of
Garda was famed in Roman times, and is a spot whose praises have been
sung by bards in all ages and tongues. Covered with olive and bay trees
it would seem to invite poets to inhabit its groves, and to chant of the
soft balmy air that floats round its shores. Hills and gentle slopes
alternate with the level swards on which villages and villas are dotted
at intervals, bringing life and movement to the scene and imparting a
spirit of animation to this otherwise secluded spot. In the days of the
Romans it was prosperous and active. They surrounded it with walls and
entered it on their maps as a strategical point, possessing besides a
secure camp and a strong station. There were also many luxurious villas
here inhabited by nobles of wealth and position, among them being the
one owned by Catullus’s father, a man whose fortune allowed of his
entertaining Julius Cæsar, and whose habitation at the northern
extremity of the peninsula must have been splendid judging from the
ruins which are pointed out to this day as those of the Grotto of
Catullus.
One of the chief objects that catches the eye on alighting at the
southern end is the castle of the Scaligers. Their heraldic badge of the
ladder (scala) is on the door, and the manifestation of their might and
power is alike visible in the great wall which surrounds the castle, and
which fortifies it on the side sloping down to the lake as well as on
the land side. A moat runs below this outer wall, and in front of the
chief entrance are evidences of a drawbridge which must once have stood
there. The entrance has two approaches, one by which carriages and
wheeled vehicles could pass, the other for foot passengers. The actual
plan of the castle is a quadrangle, but there are inner walls and
courtyards of different heights and elevations, and towers at stated
distances break up the effect of evenness presented to the eye, and
result in a picturesque and formidable-looking citadel. The castle had
three entrances, two by land, and one on to the lake, both those by land
being approached by drawbridges. The interior of the castle was formed
of two divisions, and the masonry of these courts is as perfect as it
can be, and fit to be compared with the finest and best Roman work.
“Out upon Time! who for ever will leave
But enough of the Past for the Future to grieve!”
These walls are now in ruin; decay is over a building which would seem
to have once defied even Time itself; the owl and the bat haunt the
chambers that rang with mirth and joyaunce when “high dames and mighty
earls” held court there, and when the chase and the dance followed each
other in quick succession, and all seemed made for merriment and
happiness.
There was prosperity for the inhabitants of the land in the Scaligers’
time, but there was sorrow and mourning too, for the lords of Verona
were not always mild rulers, and any opposition to their ideas or wishes
was apt to meet with a severity of the harshest kind. Such was the case
when the sect known as the Patarins (Patarini, or Catari) set up their
religious tenets against those of their liege lords. These tenets (which
the historians of Sirmione confess frankly have never met with an
exponent who has clearly revealed them) appear to have resembled in some
way the doctrines of the Manichæans. They were persecuted, outlawed, and
burnt by popes, emperors, and kings. Their courage, or (as their enemies
called it) their audacity, made them assert themselves again and again,
and, when possible, turn the arm of persecution on their persecutors.
They had however need of some spot where they could be safe from their
foes, and Sirmione seemed to them a haven where they could retire and
pursue their worship unmolested. They reckoned without their host.
Mastino I. della Scala, then lord of Verona, and consequently of
Sirmione as well, was made aware of the heresy which infected his lands,
and which was spreading rapidly round his castle. A commission was
formed to inquire into the evil, and to extirpate it if possible.
Remonstrance however failed to do much, though a few acknowledged the
error of their ways, and were received afresh into the true fold with
many injunctions and admonitions, all, we are told, of a most benign and
fatherly nature. We can hardly say as much for the punishment meted out
to the obdurate. They were condemned to be burnt to death, and no less
than a hundred (some say 150, and some 75) men and women were brought to
Verona and there suffered at the stake in the Arena (1276). Mastino’s
zeal met with a handsome recompense, for the Pope, Nicholas III.,
bestowed on him the castle of Illasi with its feudal rights and
privileges.
It is not stated definitely if Dante visited Sirmione, but his knowledge
of the country around, of the Benaco, and so forth, may be taken as
evidence that he had been there, and spoke of these places from his
personal knowledge of them.
Sirmione followed the fortunes of Verona. After the fall of the
Scaligers (all of whom were liberal and generous patrons of the place),
it became subject to the Visconti, then to the Carraresi, and finally it
came under the rule of the Venetian Republic.
Its condition for many years was that of extreme poverty and misery. A
few fishermen carried on a hard and unprofitable trade; no travellers
halted at a spot that boasted only bad accommodation; and the outlook
for a while was deplorable. All that however is now changed. The
discovery of some hot sulphur springs has brought doctors and strangers
in abundance to the place. Baths and hotels are already set up, and
though the quiet, picturesque past is threatened with an overflow of
modern buildings, fashions, and elegance (so-called), let us hope that
the inhabitants at all events will profit by these innovations, even if
the artist and archæologist may sigh over them.