Villafranca di Verona
Encyclopedia
Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Verona
Province of Verona
The Province of Verona is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Verona.-Overview:The province has an area of 3,109 km², and a total population of 912,981...

 in the Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...

, Northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

History

The position on the ancient via Postumia
Via Postumia
The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the consul Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus.It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia and Cremona, just east of the point where it crossed the Po River...

 and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins.

In the Middle Ages, in occasion of the foundation of the Rectors' Council of Verona, on March 9, 1185, it received the privilege of a tax free town, from which derived the name of villa franca
Villafranca
Villafranca is a town and municipality located in the province and the autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...

.

In the history it is remembered because of the "Treaty of Villafranca", which concluded the Second Italian Independence War, and the battle of 24 June 1866, during the Third War of Italian Independence.

Main sights

  • Castle, built from 1199. One of its tower has stones coming from an arch entitled to the Roman emperor Tiberius
    Tiberius
    Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

    . The castle was destroyed several times, but was rebuilt by the Republic of Venice
    Republic of Venice
    The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

    , until it was abandoned in 1450.
  • Church of Disciplina or of Visitazione (15th century). Donated by the Count Giorgio Maffei in 1499 to the Confraternity of Disciplinati, it has a Baroque façade and houses the "Mortorio", recently restored, a group of 9 wooden statues showing Jesus Christ, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimatea, Mary, Mary of Cleofa, Mary Betania, Mary Magdalene and the former owner of the Church.
  • San Rocco Church (15th century). It houses frescoes from the school of Domenico Morone
    Domenico Morone
    Domenico Morone was an Italian painter from Verona, painting in an early Renaissance style.Domenico Morone is known from a few panels, mainly depicting public festivals or tournaments, in which the figures in the crowds are small...

    .
  • Church of San Giovanni della Paglia (15th century), built for the Knights of Malta
    Knights Hospitaller
    The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

    . Today it is a private church.
  • Cathedral (17th century), dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul.
  • Serraglio (14th century), a defensive wall built from the Scaliger to protect the south eastern side of the territory, now in ruins. Started by Mastino II
    Mastino II della Scala
    Mastino II della Scala was lord of Verona. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of northern Italy.He was the son of Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice da Correggio. At the death of Cangrande I, he and his brother Alberto II were associated in the rule of Verona. Soon, however, Mastino's...

     in 1345 and completed by Cangrande II
    Cangrande II della Scala
    Cangrande II della Scala was Lord of Verona from 1351 until his death.In 1351, after the death of his father Mastino II della Scala, he inherited the lordship of Verona and Vicenza, initially under the regency of his uncle Antonio...

     in 1355, it was 13 kilometers long, with defensive towers, and followed the course of river Tione.
  • Bottagisio Palace, location of the Peace Treaty signing

Economy

Villafranca has an important commercial tradition: every Wednesday morning in the city center there is an important market.

Agriculture is specialized in fruit, and as a consequence of this, Villafranca owns an important trade market for peaches.

As for gastronomy, typical of this town are taiadele coi fegadini (tagliatelle in broth with leaver of chicken), and sfogliatine, fragrant donuts prepared by many pastries in the town.

Verona Airport
Verona Airport
Verona Airport , also known as Valerio Catullo Villafranca Airport or simply Verona-Villafranca Airport is an airport located southwest of Verona, Italy...

 "Valerio Catullo" is located in Villafranca di Verona. Verona Airport and Brescia Airport
Brescia Airport
Brescia Airport Gabriele D'Annunzio is an airport in Montichiari, near Brescia, Italy. Other airports in the region include Malpensa, Linate and Orio al Serio.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:**...

 "Gabriele D'Annunzio" constitute the "Garda's Airport System."

Air Dolomiti
Air Dolomiti
Air Dolomiti S.p.A. Linee Aeree Regionali Europee is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy. It is a partner of Lufthansa Regional linking 13 Italian destinations to the Lufthansa secondary hub Munich, as well as operating a few other flights in...

, a regional airline and Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...

 subsidiary, maintains its head office in Dossobuono
Dossobuono
Dossobuono is a town in the Veneto, in northeast Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Villafranca di Verona, in the province of Verona. It has a population of around 6000....

, Villafranca di Verona. At one time the airline's registered office was in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, while the airline's executive headquarters were in Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 30 km northwest of Trieste and about 14 km southwest of Gorizia....

.

External links

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