Villafranca di Verona is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the province of Verona in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, Northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

The position on the ancient

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 (the termination of the Via Aemil ...

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''. It was the site of the signature of the Treaty of Villafranca, between

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n army, which concluded the Second Italian Independence War. Nearby was the site of the Battle of Custoza, during the

Third War of Italian Independence The Third Italian War of Independence ( it, Terza Guerra d'Indipendenza Italiana) was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted i ...

Main sights

*Castle, built from 1199. One of its towers has stones coming from an arch entitled to the Roman emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

. The castle was destroyed several times, but was rebuilt by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, 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 ( 1442 – 1518) was an Italian painter from Verona, painting in an early Renaissance style. Much of his work has not survived, notably his fresco cycles. He was considered by Vasari to be second only to Liberale da Verona among a ...

. *Church of San Giovanni della Paglia (15th century), built for the Knights of Malta. Today it is a private church. *Cathedral (17th century), dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul. *Serraglio (14th century), a defensive wall built by the

Scaliger The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years. History Wh ...

to protect the south eastern side of the territory, now in ruins. Started by Mastino II in 1345 and completed by Cangrande II in 1355, it was 13 kilometers long, with defensive towers, and followed the course of the 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 liver of chicken), and ''sfogliatine'', fragrant doughnuts prepared by many pastries in the town.

Verona Airport Verona Villafranca Airport , also known as Valerio Catullo Airport or ''Villafranca Airport'', is located southwest of Verona, Italy. The airport is situated next to the junction of A4 Milan-Venice and A22 Modena-Brenner motorways. It serves ...

"Valerio Catullo" is located in Villafranca di Verona. Verona Airport and Brescia Airport "Gabriele D'Annunzio" constitute the "Garda's Airport System."

Air Dolomiti Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy, operating base at Verona Villafranca Airport and focus cities at Munich Airport and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.Lufthansa subsidiary, maintains its head office in

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 6400. Air Dolomiti, a regional airline and Lufthansa subsidiary, mai ...

, 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 ( Bisiacco: ; fur, Roncjis, sl, Ronke, german: Ronkis) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, about southwest of Gorizia and northwest of Trieste. It is the location of T ...

.Office addresses
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References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villafranca Di Verona