A portrait of Medusa carved in stone in the middle of a busy shopping street

Hey Steemians and Hiveians, today we are going to give the third and last part of our little "digital city tour".

Our next sight on the city tour was Corso Porta Borsari, the Borsari Gate. It is probably the best place in Verona to really feel the "Roman antiquity". At that time not tourists but old Romans walked through the gate. The Borsari Gate used to be part of the Roman city wall of Verona - all the more amazing that it is still standing on the spot, and quite intact. At that time it was called Porta Lovia, as it was very close to the Temple of Jupiter. Above the supporting beam of the gate, which is above the double arches, there is an inscription of the Emperor Gallienus. The inscription is dated 265 AD and praises the construction of the city wall.

In fact, the gate is even older than the inscription because it was built in the 1st century as part of an older city wall.

What I found particularly interesting, perhaps also because of the history and the idea that once Romans walked through the gate: In Roman times, Verona was the junction of 4 consular roads in the north of the Roman Empire. One of them was the Via Postumia, which passed through the gate and then led to the Roman Forum of Verona, today's Piazza delle Erbe (I made a post about this the day before yesterday, feel free to have a look at it). In the past, as the city guide told us, there used to be watchtowers next to the gate. This was to prevent uninvited guests or attackers from entering.

The gate itself is built in typical Italian style. It is one of the oldest gates in Italy.

Our next destination was a portrait of Medusa carved in stone - in the middle of a busy shopping street and directly on Corso Porta Borsari, about which I told you before. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly what the city guide told us about the portrait and there was no information about it in the internet. But as you can imagine - it is certainly a secret tip. Also the Medusa is located in a big shopping mile of Verona, she hardly gets attention - there is no trace of tourists far and wide. And exactly these are the places I like so much ;) But in general the figure of Medusa has always fascinated me and I just had to show you the picture, even if I can't give you any further information about it. So if you should ever be in Verona and find out what Medusa is all about, please feel free to write me in the comments if you remember it. But what I noticed is that there are several restaurants in Verona that call themselves Medusa or something similar, so the mythical figure seems to be anchored in history somehow.

Our last stop was the church Santa Maria Antica from the 8th century. It is located near the Piazza dei Signori. The church was a kind of house church for the Scaligeri (the ruling family in Verona). Next to it there is the private cemetery of the family (arche scaligere) with splendid gothic tombs.

Here our city tour already ended - about afternoon. What positively surprised me in Verona but not only there but in many Italian cities were the many water dispensers, which were really everywhere. I was so grateful for that!

I hope you enjoyed my post today, please give me feedback!

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