Italy, Verona

About Verona

Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. The ancient town and the center of the modern city are in a loop of the Adige River near Lake Garda. Because of this position, the areas saw regular floodings until 1956, when the Mori-Torbole tunnel was constructed, providing 500 cubic meters of discharge from the Adige river to the Garda lake in case of flood danger. The tunnel reduced the risk of floodings from once every seventy years to once every two centuries.

History

Verona, or Veronia, was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to cede it to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po the Veronese territory became Roman (about 300 BC). Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and then a municipium in 49 BC; Verona had the franchise in 59.

From 1509 to 1517 the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I.

Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that Napoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in October, 1797.

The Austrians took control of the city on January 18, 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. In 1866, following the Six Weeks War, Verona, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of Italy.

In 1866, on the anniversary of the defeat of Königrätz, the Austrians evacuated Verona, their strongest fortress in Venetia, which thus became Italian.

Demographics

While the population of Verona has historically been predominantly Italian, in years past, the make-up of the population has changed due to recent waves of immigration—immigrants and temporary guestworkers from around the world have made Verona their home. As of a 2005 census, 7.9% of the population (approximately 20,000 people) have been identified as non-Italian, with many immigrants originating from areas such as Eastern Europe, North Africa, and South Asia.