This large square offers an extraordinary glimpse on the history of Verona, and is a sort of foyer of the Arena, that attract thousands of spectators for its shows. For more than two centuries it is loved by the Veronese strolling along the "Liston". It was paved between 1770 and 1782 with pink marble of Valpolicella, the same used to build the Roman Amphitheatre.
It's the place where people meet to review the events of the day or consume a coffee or a drink in one of the many bars which are open in winter too. Evidence of the vitality of the city and frame for the many events that take place in Piazza Bra and in the Arena, it was made even more spectacular by the new cast iron structures in support of the colorful tents, designed by the master Franco Zeffirelli and the architect Walter Rizzi. The Palazzo della Gran Guardia hosts important cultural events, while Barbieri Palace now houses the Town Hall.
Donated in 1871 by Count Antonio Nogarola and set between the two arches of the fourteenth gates of the Bra, an old clock continues to indicate the hours to passersby. Towards the middle of the twelfth century in the large empty space around the Arena, a market was held for trading wood, hay and cattle; this function was consolidated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1897 it hosted the Horse Fair: one of the most important in the north-east of Italy and today one of the largest in Europe.
Old papers mention Piazza Bra as cattle market: the tradition has survived in the fair of Saint Lucia, which is held here every year. The urbanization of the site attracted different activities and other buildings were built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The central part became a garden in 1873.
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