Municipality of the province of Verona, Legnago is located on the two banks of the Adige river. Important agricultural and industrial center with active installations in the mechanical, chemical, food, wine, textile, paper and wood sectors. The history of Legnago is lost in a distant past with glorious moments. The city gained considerable prestige during Roman times, being one of the landmarks of the Lower Veronese area. The prestige continued during the following domination of the Lombards. From 932 Legnago was a fiefdom administered by the Bishops of Verona, who were succeeded by various lordships, including that of the Scaligeri, the Visconti and the Carraresi. From its position on the Adige, Legnago derived its strategic importance. A pile-dwelling station, the Forum Allieni was built there in Roman times (part of the archaeological finds are in the local museum of the Fioroni Foundation). It was called Arimannia under the Lombards; it was enfeoffed to the bishop of Verona until 1207; until 1387 it was under the Scaligeri and, from 1405, under Venice. The first Venetian fortifications date back to 1494, renovated after 1531 on designs by M. Sanmicheli. Taken by the French in 1796, Napoleon ordered to dismantled the defensive works. The new Austrian fortifications (1815) made Legnago a constituent element of the Quadrilatero (with Verona, Mantua and Peschiera). It suffered floods in 1868 and 1882, was damaged in the war of 1866 and was nearly destroyed in 1944-45.
Places to visit
The visit to Legnago can begin from the Salieri Theater which offers a full calendar of events related to the world of dance, prose and of course music in honor of the composer to whom it is dedicated. In fact the brilliant musician was born and raised in Legnago before moving to Padua, Venice and to the splendor of the Habsburg court. It is also advisable to admire the works of religious architecture, including the Church of San Salvaro and the Cathedral, near which there is the fascinating Torrione (tower) dating back to the fourteenth century. The Torrione rises in a suggestive position close to the imposing Duomo and the bridge over the Adige river, representing the only surviving part of the ancient walls that protected Legnago.
To learn more about the history of Legnago, it’s possible to visit the Fioroni Museum (known as Casa Museo) where ancient artifacts and documents are preserved together with documents and objects of the Risorgimento and where to relive the atmosphere of the past centuries through the original furnishings.
A few hundred meters from the Fioroni Museum, there is the Archaeological Environmental Center - Civic Museum located in an ancient Austrian military structure, where it’s possible to admire in the 4 large rooms, important finds from the Ancient Neolithic (V millennium BC) to the late Iron Age (II-I century BC) and also contemplate the funerary rituals (burial and cremation) of the Middle Bronze Age.