Magnifica illa civitas Verona ; Colonia augusta Verona nova gallieniana

Hogenberg, Frans, approximately 1539-1590 · [1582]

Romeo sorrowfully laments in act three, scene three of Romeo and Juliet, "There is no world without Verona walls." Faced with banishment from Juliet, Romeo pleads with Friar Laurence to grant him any other fate than expulsion from Verona, and despite their affection for one another, Romeo and Juliet tragically could not escape the animosity that their families had for each other. The 1582 map displayed here illustrates Verona, known as a center for art and architecture, in two views, complete with vignettes of perhaps the star-crossed lovers on the left, and the Arena – a remnant from the city's importance in Roman times – on the right.