The church was founded on the Maximum Decuman, bordered directly with the Foro, whence the name of the building. Due to its proximity to the Foro, it got the title of basilica too. The church was damaged by the fire that destroyed most of Verona in 1172, and this is the justification for the affixing of an outer wall of inscription, engraved on a marble triptych reminiscent of that year “combusta est civitas Verone”.
The Romanesque walls came to light in 1905, when broken away a few pieces of rubble outside the church along Corso Porta Borsari, the Municipality had to intervene. On advice of the rector, the whole wall was crumbled: thus the underlying wall with isodomic layers of tuff and pebbles in a herringbone pattern appeared. The exterior features a marble tomb, with a cross, coat of arms and an overlying triptych. The tower is built of bricks: the base is of the fourteenth century, while the upper part is much more recent. Inside you can see the relief of the Madonna col Bambino, signed by Maestro Pulia in the thirteenth century. Gem of the church is the Portalino, sculpted in Renaissance style by Jerome Giolfino. On the sides of the arch and at its summit are the statue of Saint John the Evangelist, Peter and John the Baptist, and in the niche the fresco by Nicola Giolfino with St. John in the island of Patmos.