Verona

History - Verona originated in the prehistoric age, probably on the present site of the Ponte Pietra where the river Adige couid be forded along the salt and amber route from the Adriatic to Germany. 

Possibly founded by the Veneti, it was of great importance in the Roman Age and became a Romar town in 49 B.C. In 312 A.D. Pompeianus, General of Maxentius was defeated and killed near Verona by Constantine. 

It became Christian in the 4th century, till it became the beloved city of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoth kingdom in the middie of the 5th century, then a Longobardic dukedom and the seat of Pipin, King of Italy under the Carolingian Empire. 

In the 11th century Verona was joined to the Mark of Bavaria and in 1136 it became a municipality. Having come under the power of Ezzelino da Romano, it came under the dominion of the Scaliger family, whose seigniory lasted from 1277 until 1387, when it fell into the hands of the Viscontis. 

In 1405 Verona volutarily offered itself to the Venetians, under whose government it remained until 1796, when the Republic of Venice was invaded by Napoleon.

After the short-lived rule of the Kingdom of Italy Verona was occupied by the Austrians in 1814 and returned to the dominion of Italy in 1866. 

Verona was the papal seat of Pope Lucius III (Ubaldo Allucignoli di Lucca) from 1181 to 1185, the year when the Conclave which elected Pope Urban III was held in Verona. Pope Lucius III is buried in the choir of the Cathedral, where there is a memorial stone inscribed to him.