Piazza dei Signori

Piazza dei Signori, also called Piazza Dante, is Verona's historic civic square, framed by palaces, loggias and the statue of Dante Alighieri.

Why it matters

The square developed in the Middle Ages as the seat of political power under the Scaligeri. Unlike the commercial role of Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza dei Signori gathered the city's government buildings, including the Palazzo del Podestà, Palazzo della Ragione, Domus Nova and Loggia del Consiglio. UNESCO includes the paired squares among the evidence of Verona's continuous urban development. Dante's statue recalls the poet's years of exile under the Scaliger lords.

What to notice

The statue of Dante, carved in Carrara marble by Ugo Zannoni in 1865, stands near the Scaliger palaces. The Loggia del Consiglio, built between 1476 and 1493, has statues of figures associated with Verona's Roman past. Arches and porticoes link buildings from different periods, while the Palazzo della Ragione occupies one side of the civic ensemble.

Context and history

The square took shape in medieval Verona under the Scaligeri, who ruled the city until the Venetian conquest of 1405. Dante lived in the adjacent palace of Cangrande during his exile. The Loggia del Consiglio was built later for the city's council, and its statues of Roman-era figures expressed civic identity. Zannoni's Dante statue was commissioned in 1863 and unveiled secretly at dawn on 14 May 1865, while the city remained under Austrian administration.