Abbazia di San Zeno, Romanesque abbey in Verona, Italy.

The Abbazia di San Zeno is a Romanesque abbey in Verona, built around a three-nave church supported by red marble columns. The complex also includes a Gothic cloister, a freestanding bell tower, and a crypt that runs beneath the main nave.

The site developed in the 9th century over an earlier place of worship linked to Saint Zeno, who had been bishop of Verona in the 4th century. Much of what visitors see today was rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1117, which led to the construction of the current Romanesque church.

The abbey is named after Saint Zeno, bishop of Verona in the 4th century. According to the chronicle of the notary Coronato, a first church was built on his tomb after his death in 371, and the present basilica grew from it. The complex served as the episcopal see from 750 until 804, when church and monastery were destroyed.

The surviving abbey tower and the cloisters now form part of the Basilica of San Zeno complex, so the two are visited together on foot. The tower and restored parts of the original abbey can be visited and are kept in good condition after the post-war restorations. The San Zeno area lay outside the Scaliger walls, so allow time to walk from the historic centre.

The abbey's scriptorium is documented only from 1315, though monks likely copied manuscripts there much earlier. In 1940 two books from its library were found: Justinian's Institutiones and Augustine's Tractatus in Ioannis evangelium, the latter inscribed "Liber monasterii Sancti Zenonis Maioris de Verona".