The Basilica of San Zeno is without any doubt one of the most beautiful and better preserved examples of Romanesque architecture in the whole of Northern Italy. What strikes the visitor most is the warm colours of the façade, due to the alternated use of tufa stone and bricks.
The original nucleus of the complex has been identified in the church and convent that rose on the Roman and later an early Christian burial ground near the Via Gallica. The church and convent had been built on the spot where the Saint had been buried, in order to preserve his relics and honor his memory. Saint Zeno, born in Africa, 8th Bishop of Verona (362-380), converted the whole town to Christianity.
The early buildings underwent some changes in the 6th century. The church soon became too small, due to the ever growing worship of the Saint. For this reason, the Frankish King Pépin (Charles the Great’s son), the Bishop Ratoldo and the Archideacon Pacifico decided to build a larger church and a monastery. The 8th of December 806 the new basilica was consecrated in the presence of King Pépin.
At the end of the 11th century new works to enlarge and renew the church were started: almost all the present basilica dates back to this period.

An earthquake in 1117 interrupted the renovation and destroyed much of what had been done till then: the cloister, the upper part of the bell tower and part of the monastery collapsed. The works were resumed soon after and lasted till 1138.
The monastery of San Zeno was shut down by the Republic of Venice in 1770.
Note on the outside the façade with the large rose window called “The wheel of Fortune”, the marble bas -reliefs on either side of the porch, the famous bronze doors, the bell- tower and the Abbey Tower.
Inside the church you can see 13th and 14th century frescoes, the baptismal font, the ribbed vault ceiling, the crypt where the remains of San Zeno are kept, the polychromatic statue of San Zeno called “San Zeno laughing” and Andrea Mantegna’s famous Triptych (1457-59).