History

Villa Verità dates from the second half of the 15th century, believed to be before of 1558.

 

The Villa belonged to the noble Verità family up to the beginning of the 19th century until the death of Giovanna Verità, born Sparavieri, widow of Augusto Verità.

Augusto lost his life on the flanks of Porta Nuova at the hands of Napoleons troops for his loyalty to the Domain of San Marco and for having been one of the protagonist of the Pasque Veronesi.

Countess Giovanna hosted high society from around the world at the villa, but on her death the property passed to the Sparavieri family who sadly left the house in a state of abandonment.

 

Then, around 1918, the villa fell to the hands ofdevelopers who cut down the trees in the park and destroyed the gardens and the lake, whose water was supplied from the sources of Novare.

The villa was then purchased in 1922 by the Count Pieralvise Serego Alighieri, direct descendent of the Divine Poet Dante Alighieri. The son of the count, Dante, during the 1960s began work on restoring the villa to its magnificent original 16th Century style, restoration which was continued in the 90s by his daughters Ginevra and Fiammetta, the current owners.

The villa consists of the main central body and two wings, on the north side the main door carries the Coat of Arms of the family, probably dated from seventeen hundreds.

 

The villa is shaped as horse shoe, on side there is a rectangular rather than square shaped tower as would be found on any other villa in the Valpolicella.

 

The central part of the villa on the first floor is characterised by a wide balcony, called a loggia, with arches and Doric style pillars. Both wings carry seven arches above of the three placed on the ground floor.

The splendour of the villa is expressed by its size and style. Behind the villa there is an old chapel, deconsecrated many years ago, it was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

 

Chapel documentation date the little church to 1741, but could have been built in the 17thcentury by Marcantonio Verità, who was the owner and then bishop of Cherso and Ancyra (Ankara).