Torre abbaziale di San Zeno, Gothic tower in San Zeno, Verona, Italy
The San Zeno Abbey Tower in Verona is a six-story brick structure with Ghibelline crenellations and round-arched window openings. The building contains four interior levels with vaulted ceilings and preserves its original architectural substance.
The tower is first mentioned in two documents from 1169; its lower section dates to the 12th century, while the upper raising is attributed by superintendent Alessandro Da Lisca to the 13th century, based on the lighter brick and baked-clay arches above the third floor. In the 14th century a taller building, the so-called palazzo dell'Abate, was added along the north wall; it housed the abbot and prestigious guests, since the abbey served as lodging for Holy Roman Emperors. Originally outside the communal walls, the tower was later enclosed by Cangrande della Scala's walls. The palazzo was partly demolished in the early 19th century for building material.
On the tower's north wall, now inside the 14th-century Abbot's Palace, is a late-12th-century painting of a procession of peoples in conspicuous headgear paying homage to an enthroned sovereign, with a turreted city behind and hunting scenes below. Inside the tower, a fresco fragment shows the lower part of a Wheel of Fortune with a figure labelled "sum sine regno".
The tower stands on the left side of Piazza San Zeno, beside the basilica, outside the former communal walls and within the Scaliger circuit. Its six levels are reached by internal stairs; the penultimate level has exposed wooden beams and the top level the roof. The 14th-century frescoes are on the upper floors.
On the tower's north wall, now inside the Abbot's palace, is a late-12th-century painting of a procession of peoples in striking headgear paying homage to an enthroned sovereign, with a turreted city behind and hunting scenes below. Its technique and headdresses recall Romanesque work from the Venosta Valley, and it resembles a fresco in Müstair.
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