Opera is the biggest of Verona's attractions and it seems extraordinary that an arena created so long ago still contributes to the creativity, ambience and wealth of a community in a way that the people who built it could have never imagined.
Verona began as a village in a loop in the Adige River and was claimed by Romans in 300BC - it was on the intersection of trading roads and the river made it defendable. By the time the arena was built, Verona was a large, prosperous city. Parts of the city wall remain from Roman times.
A severe earthquake in 1117 demolished many of the city's other Roman buildings. This led to a massive Romanesque rebuilding including the construction of two glorious churches, Sant' Anastasia and San Zeno Maggiore. San Zeno Maggiore, 1153, was the first to rise from the rubble and is considered one of the greatest achievements of Romanesque architecture but, glorious though it is, it doesn't pull my heartstrings as much as Anastasia.
I visit Sant' Anastasia (started in 1280 and taking a century to complete) during the Sunday morning service. I sit at the back and enjoy the ambience of incense, prayer, heavenly light from stained glass windows and flickering candles in giant gold candelabras.
Frescoes telling stories cover the walls; the annunciation, the virgin, Jesus as a chubby baby, a compassionate-faced man and a bloodily crucified prophet. This is Verona's largest church and by gradual proliferation, over centuries, it showcases the evolution of religious art including such art-history greats as Pisanello, Bellini and Tintoretto.
Another of Verona's claims to fame is that it is the home of Romeo and Juliet. I walk under an ancient archway into the courtyard of Juliet's house. On a stone balcony above the courtyard Juliet professed her love of Romeo to a friend and he, lurking in the courtyard, in the hope of getting a glimpse of her, overheard. This was the beginning of a star-crossed romance that ended in tragic deaths of both of them, but their story became one of the most enduring love stories of all time.
In 1553 Shakespeare wrote the romantic tragedy, setting it in Verona, based on events that happened a hundred years before. Never mind that Romeo and Juliet are fictional characters, and that though this house was the 13th-century home of the Capello family, and they probably had a daughter called Julieta, no one is quite sure where fact and fiction blend. No matter, young lovers flock here from all over the world to vow love until death. There is a bronze statue of Juliet with its right breast shining bright - millions of hands have stroked it. This is supposed to bring luck to love.
The city centre is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The cobbled streets and heritage architecture give it old-world ambience but the Veronese, who live and work here, are totally 2013.
Piazza delle Erbe, for instance, originally the Roman forum, is ringed with sumptuous medieval buildings but, at ground level, it's abuzz with cafes. I go there for breakfast and watch the world go by. Elderly gentlemen meet for espresso and chat while glancing at their newspaper and stylish women, often with cute little dogs, stand and gossip by the ancient fountain while their fury friends sniff each other and drink the water. The main shopping street is awash with designer shops - Prada, Armani, Moschino.
It's dislocating to attend a Sunday service in an 800-year-old church, have breakfast in a trendy cafe surrounded by medieval buildings and then peruse fashion shops.
When I reach the arena I revive myself with pistachio gelato. The massive, stone arena, 2000 years of it, reminds me that Tiberius, and the monks who built sublime Sant' Anastasia, created buildings of strength and beauty that have lasted in a useful and beloved way far into an unimaginable future.
It's a reminder that the marks we make now can potentially last until eternity.
