Chiesa di Santa Maria Antica

Santa Maria Antica is a small Romanesque church beside the Arche Scaligere, the monumental tombs of Verona’s ruling Della Scala family. Its medieval fabric and the sarcophagus above its side entrance connect the church to the dynasty that made it a private chapel.

Why it matters

The site originated as an eighth-century place of worship. The church was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117 and consecrated in 1185 by the Patriarch of Aquileia. From the thirteenth century, the Della Scala rulers used it as their chapel and burial church, placing their tombs beside and above its walls. Santa Maria Antica therefore preserves both a Romanesque religious building and the setting of one of Verona’s most distinctive funerary complexes.

What to notice

Above the side entrance is the sarcophagus of Cangrande I della Scala, crowned by an equestrian statue. The statue visible there is a copy: the original, sculpted in the mid-fourteenth century, was moved in 1909 to the city museum at Castelvecchio. Inside, two rows of seven red-stone columns with squared capitals divide the three naves; the apses are set into the thickness of the walls. Near the entrance, a black-and-white floor mosaic uncovered in the nineteenth century is associated with the church’s mid-eighth-century floor. Ex-votos on the main altar reflect the church’s devotional history.

Context and history

Tradition holds that Pope Alexander III consecrated the high altar during his time in Verona in 1177. The present church followed the destruction of the earlier building in the 1117 earthquake and was consecrated in 1185. The Della Scala family later enclosed it within their court and built their marble tombs against the church and over its entrance. Excavations around the building uncovered about fifty burials, most dating to the eleventh century, evidence that the site was used for burial before the Della Scala family’s arrival. A restoration campaign in the late nineteenth century removed later additions and returned the interior to a Romanesque appearance.