On November 30th 2000, the XXIV Plenary Assembly of the World Heritage Committee (W.H.C.) enrolled Verona in the World Heritage List (W.H.L) under the name of

“City of Verona”

DECISION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE:

In its urban structure and its architecture, Verona is an outstanding example of a town that has developed progressively and uninterruptedly over two thousand years, incorporating artistic elements of the highest quality from each succeeding period.

Verona represents in an exceptional way the concept of the fortified town at several seminal stages of European history.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS

The historic city of Verona was founded in the 1st century b.C. It flourished particularly under the rule of the Scaliger family in the 13th and 14th centuries and as part of the Republic of Venice from the 15th to 18th centuries. Verona, a city of art and culture, has preserved a remarkable amount of monuments from antiquity and the medieval and Renaissance periods, and represents an outstanding example of a military stronghold.

On August 30^th 2017, the Italian National Commission for UNESCO decided to grant its patronage to the marathon of Verona, considering that it runs in the historic center of the city, listed on the Unesco World Heritage list.               Also cities like Ferrara, Siracusa, Rome, Venice, Palermo, Aquileia and Florence are on the World Heritage List and have their marathons. We would like to create in Italy an UNESCO marathon network to further enhance our heritage of the historic centers, highlighting their usability also on the sport level.This is a way to highlight links between sport, art and culture, three elements that contribute to a healthy and quality life style that is reflected positively not only at the individual level but also at the social level. It is also a way of spreading a sustainable tourism idea that is based on fruity rhythms more in tune with the body and mind.

The description of the path, a traditional consultation tool for the event and its accompanying persons, cannot, in this edition, ignore the prestigious acknowledgment received.
The contact between Verona World Heritage Site and Veronamarathon path are:

• The fortified walls with the monumental gates of Roman, medieval and sixteenth century;
• Adige river, second Italian river by length, is a naturalistic element of extraordinary beauty and bordered by tree-lined avenues;
• The bridges, seven, dating back to the whole history of the City of Verona.

Many buildings and monuments, religious and not, public and private, mute spectators of the runners: their history and the art treasures contained in many of them are subject to numerous publications.The essential guide, drawn up by the City of Verona, is available online at the site

https://intranet.comune.verona.it/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=16376

The first monument crossed by athletes is “Gates of the Bra”, breaching in the medieval walls. Here is the bronze bust of The Bard W.H. Shakespeare and the tombstone that brings the memorable “There is no world for me beyond the walls of Verona” [Juliet and Romeo Act III, scene 3].

After the gates, there is the starting line in Corso Porta Nuova: from here to the remarkable Porta Sanmicheliana, then the path turns right and goes along the Venetian Walls [km1] to Porta Palio, another splendid example of military Renaissance architecture. From here, the course continues right in Corso Porta Palio where can be admire Castelvecchio [km2], the largest and most impressive city monument after the Arena, the fortified residence of the Scaliger family, dating back to the 14th century.

The path goes right in the elegant Corso Cavour, on the urban track of the ancient Via Postumia, which in Roman times connected the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Adriatic Sea. Just after the Castle, on the left, the Arch of the Gavi, a rare example of honorary Roman arch dedicated to private citizens. Originally, it was placed across the street and served as a gateway to the City Walls; it was disassembled by Napoleon to allow easier passage to his troops and was rebuilt in the 1930s at its current location.From the 16th century Corso Cavour became the favorite street of the important Veronese families where they built their sumptuous palaces: Palazzo Canossa at number 44, Palazzo Muselli Pompei at 42, Palazzo Carlotti at 2, Palazzo Bevilacqua at 29.The ancient church of San Lorenzo on the left, and the church of the Apostles on the right complete the scene.

The whole street takes to Porta Borsari, a majestic Roman door dating back to the first century AD. During the imperial era it was the main entrance on Via Postumia to the Roman city surrounded by walls. The name comes from the bags that the gabelles filled with the duties levied by merchants for entering in the city.

With the door in front, the path turns left onto Via Diaz and after passing “Ponte della Vittoria” with its equestrian sculptures, it follows Lungadige Campagnola [km3] to Piazza Arsenale (splendid view from the opposite side of the river: Castelvecchio with its Scaliger Bridge).On the right hand there is the Arsenal, the Habsburg military structure, second by size after Vienna.

Then the path goes to Lungadige Cangrande and Lungadige Attiraglio, with the characteristic sidewalk that used to be run by the counter-current trains of commercial river transport barges. It goes up to the extra-urban location of Parona [km10].Continuing on the Brennero extra urban street, the Roman Claudia Augusta, the path arrives to Nassar. Then it enters in Negrar, in the Arbizzano area [km12]. Turning back to Parona [km15], it will pass under a tunnel to reach Ponte Unità d’Italia. Continuing to the southeast, it will reach Ponte Catena [km19] where it crosses the Adige River again and heads on to return to Ponte della Vittoria and Porta Borsari.From here, runners of Cangrande Half Marathon will enter via Oberdan and finish their race at Piazza Bra.The brave athletes who aspire to the finish line of Veronamarathon will take again Corso Cavour [km21] to Castelvecchio; then follow San Zeno Rigaste, Piazza Corrubbio [km22] to Piazza San Zeno, the Romanesque Basilica consecrated to the “Moro Bishop ” with its beautiful bell tower, this year medal’s monument.

When the path reaches Porta San Zeno, it turns right to Via Pontida and continues on Via Da Vico [km23] and Via Lega Veronese, along the Venetian walls, the sixteenth-century bastions of Circonvallazione Maroncelli, Via Scarsellini and Via Rosmini [km24].It continues towards Porta Palio, crossing the Camuzzoni Canal, an hydroelectric plant of the late nineteenth century, built to give electricity to the emerging industries and still operational, and takes Via Camuzzoni [km26], Via San Marco, Via Manzoni.Crossed Corso Milano, it enters in Via Galvani and, after almost three kilometers along the canal, it will enter the Chievo district [km29] where it will cross again Adige River on the nineteenth-century dam that feed the canal to Lungadige Attiraglio.Here the path goes back towards Ponte Catena [km35]. To the right, the path separates from Adige River; it crosses the Liberty district of Borgo Trento to Porta San Giorgio, leaving right the beautiful Sanmicheli church [km37].

The path crosses the Adige River on the Roman Ponte Pietra, leaving behind the Roman Theater, and it arrives at the “Liceo Classico Scipione Maffei” where in 1903 was founded the glorious football team Hellas Verona; it takes Via Forti and Via Emilei [km38], it will return to Via Diaz, next to the great Church of Sant’Eufemia.

Then, it takes “Corso Porta Borsari”, the “decumanus maximus” on the Via Postumia track, up to “Piazza Erbe” the most popular Italian plaza for the foreign press, located in the area of the ancient Roman Forum [km39]. At the end of the square, it turns left in Via Cairoli, again on Lungadige Rubele and then on the “Ponte Nuovo”.From here it enters in the neighborhood of Veronetta, a nickname affixed by French during the domination of the city. The path enters Via Carducci passing by the Church of San Tommaso and then in the direction of “Porta Vescovo”, the bastion east of the city. From here it turns back towards the historic center turning right into Via 20 Settembre and Via San Paolo [km41].The last Adige River crossing takes place on “Ponte Navi”, in view of the old River Customs building, to take Stradone Maffei and passes next to the church of San Fermo, one of the most interesting and original of the city, consisting of two connected and overlapping churches, unicum in which Romanesque style blends harmoniously with the Gothic style.From here the path reaches the back of the Verona City Hall (km42), it will find the Arena, the largest open air opera in the world still echoing the melodies of melodramatic works and pop concerts of great Italian and foreign artists, down below the Arena Wing to arrive at the finish line on the Liston of Piazza Bra in front of the equestrian monument of Vittorio Emanuele II.There the medal with the unmistakable image of the basilica of San Zeno will wait for all finishers.