Verona - Basilica di San Zeno

Already Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, may have funded a church, erected over the tomb of Saint Zeno, who, following the legends, was born in Mauretania and died around 380 in Verona.

The erection of the present church began in the 9th century. Soon after San Zeno´s relics were translated into the new church. At that time Charlemagne´s son Pepin (aka "Pepin of Italy") resided in Verona and a large Benedictine monastery grew all around the church.

When the Magyars invaded Italy in the early 10th century, the church got severely damaged, but the relics were not harmed, as they had been taken out and were hidden. In 967, a new church was built with the patronage of Otto I.

On January 3, 1117, the church was damaged by an earthquake, that ruined so many buildings in Northern Italy. The church was restored and got enlarged in 1138.

It may well be, that soon after panels of a bronze door from another (destroyed?, damaged?) church were transferred to San Zeno - and so got reused here. Today the famous bronze door consists out of two panels on which the plates are fixed. The older ones (~ 1100) are often compared with the bronze works in Hildesheim, and Saxon Masters may have worked here. The younger ones (1200) are "smoother" and some scholars connect them to Benedetto Antelami, who worked in Parma 1178 ("Deposition").

Unfortunately the room is so small, that I was unable to take an "overview", so I could only take photos of panels and details.

Some of the panels depict scenes of legends around San Zeno. They tell, that before he became bishop of Verona, he lived as a hermit near the river Adige, where he went fishing. His attributes are a fishing rod and a basket - and he is still patron saint for fishermen and anglers.