The so called Fiorina tower in piazza Nogara (Verona): updates and clarifications

• Main Author: Matteo Fabris
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Studi Veronesi 2018-11-01
• Series: Studi Veronesi
• Subjects: Case torri; Torre Fiorina; Corte Nogara; Palton; Locatelli; Palazzo Scarpa
• Online Access: http://www.veronastoria.it/ojs/index.php/StVer/article/view/709

The scarce remains of the so-called Fiorina tower are currently visible in the basement of the Banca Mutua Popolare di Verona bank’s building, designed by the architect Scarpa, in piazza Nogara in Verona. Archival research, combined with the unpublished report of an archaeological excavation conducted in the late nineties, has clarified the bibliographical data stratified over time. The paper addresses the controversial identification of the tower, dating issues, as well as the details regarding its ownership and its architectural evolution from the 13th to the 18th century. The tower probably dates back to the the end of the Early Middle Ages, hence the hypothesis of its Roman origin has been dismissed. It could correspond with two towers reported in the same area in the late Early Middle Ages and in the High Middle Ages. Whether the Zerli family owned the Fiorina tower during the 13th century is still a groundless assumption. However, there are clues suggesting that the well-known sculptor Giovanni di Rigino was the owner of the tower during the 14th century. Indeed, his granddaughter Sister Verde inherited the tower and donated it to the Convent of Santa Maria della Scala at the beginning of the 15th century. Since then, the Bertazzoli family has been the tenant up to the mid-16th century, when the Palton family bought the property and will keep it until the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century, the Locatelli family acquired the tower and transformed it into the stable of their palace. It gradually underwent further demolitions in the following two centuries until its current state. The tower, called torrazzo (a term which indicates a big and/or a ruined tower) in the documents, took the name of torre Fiorina from a mistake made by the scholar Giovanni Battista Biancolini.