The church of San Pietro da Verona in Santa Anastasia, better known as the basilica of Santa Anastasia, is an important Catholic place of worship that stands in the heart of the historic center of Verona; it is located at the end of the decumanus maximus of the city in Roman times, near the point where the wide meander of the Adige river is crossed by the Ponte Pietra, where the two main traffic routes of the city, road and river, gravitate. It is the largest, most solemn and representative church in Verona, a reflection of a lively moment in the city's life, when the expansion and consolidation of political and economic institutions allowed the community, in synergy with the Scaliger rule, the Dominican clergy and the Castelbarco family, to make a considerable financial effort to build this important temple, a symbol of their power. The church represented the most important Gothic period for Verona. In the years immediately following its construction, it became a point of reference on which the designs of several other religious buildings were based, especially thanks to some innovations that St. Anastasia introduced into the plan, with the development of a wide transept and the articulation of the apsidal area into four chapels on either side of the presbytery, where the high altar is located, to the wall structure entirely in brick and to the new type of bell tower. The façade is unfinished, except for a majestic Gothic mullioned doorway that leads to a large interior divided into three naves by monumental cylindrical columns. On either side of the two naves are a series of chapels and numerous altars, the most famous of which is the Fregoso altar by Danese Cattaneo, praised by Giorgio Vasari. In addition, it is possible to admire paintings and frescoes by famous masters of Veronese painting and beyond, such as Pisanello, Altichiero, Liberale da Verona, Stefano da Zevio, Nicolò Giolfino, Giovan Francesco Caroto, Felice Brusasorzi, Francesco Morone, Michele da Verona and Lorenzo Veneziano. The beginning of its construction dates back to 1260, when the Dominican friars, who lived outside the walls of the city, received from the Bishop of Verona, Manfredo Roberti, the land on which to build the new church and convent. The construction of the great building began in 1290 and it took a very long time: it can be said that it was finished only in the 1440s, although the basic structures were already finished in the third decade of the previous century. The basilica was consecrated on October 22, 1471 by Cardinal and Bishop of Verona Giovanni Michiel, but minor works continued for more than two centuries, never reaching the completion of the main elevation. When the Dominican Order was suppressed in 1807, the temple was entrusted to the secular clergy, while the adjacent convent, now abandoned, later became the site of the Istituto Maffei. The basilica is the seat of a parish included in the vicariate of the center of Verona.
Origins of the name The Basilica of St. Anastasia takes its name from a pre-existing Arian church from the Gothic period, dedicated by Theodoric to Anastasia of Sirmium. The church was later incorporated into another church building, dedicated to St. Remigius, from the Frankish period. The present basilica is named after the co-patron saint of Verona, St. Peter, a Dominican martyr who was killed on April 4, 1252, not far from Monza. The people of Verona have always called it by its former name, and so it is unanimously known even outside the city limits, because of the pre-existing church.
History
Origins
It is believed that on the site of the present religious building there were already two Christian churches in Lombard times, built, according to tradition, at the behest of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric: one dedicated to St. Remigius and the other to St. Anastasia, a martyr of the persecution of the Christians under Diocletian, whose cult had spread from Constantinople to Verona around the 8th century. The site chosen overlooked the ancient decumanus maximus of Roman Verona, the urban extension of the Via Postumia. The earliest news of this first construction is contained in a diploma dated October 2, 890, issued by the King of Italy Berengar I, in which reference is made "ad ecclesiam Sanctae Anastasiae" about the city of Verona. After this testimony, there is no further documentation for a long period of time, and a second mention is found only in a deed dated May 12, 1082, concerning a donation in favor of Anastasius, "archipresbyter, custos et rector" of the church of Santa Anastasia, of a courtyard, a wine press and vineyards in Illasi, near the church of Santa Giustina. A subsequent decree of 1087 lists the many possessions the church had in the Verona area. Sources show that the collegiate of religious who worked in the church in the 12th century was very numerous and important, so much so that there are several documents that mention the priests at their head: for example, a contract informs that a certain Bonseniore held the office of archpriest in March 1114, while a few decades later Pope Alexander III issued a decretal to Theobald and the clerics of Santa Anastasia in Verona. A testament dated June 27, 1226, in which a certain Ricerio, a miller, bequeathed ten soldi for works "ad porticalia Sancte Anastasie", suggests that the building was renovated at that time. These ancient sources do not reveal anything about the architecture of this early building, except that it had a choir, that there was a rectory on the outside, and that a portico had been built. Some historians believe that part of the wall of the Chapel of the Crucifix is a remnant of the ancient building, but this claim remains controversial.
Arrival of the Dominicans and start of construction
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