Via I Maggio Mediana Dell'industria: Villas and churches

Villas and building phases

For those interested in culture, the villas and churches in Mozzecane, Grezzano and San Zeno offer a range of historical points of interest. In the centre of Mozzecane stand the villas Ciresola and Vecelli Cavriani.

Villa Ciresola comprises a manor house, adjoining barchesse (farm buildings) and a large garden. The municipal library, Biblioteca comunale “Galileo Galilei”, is now housed in the villa. The library is accessed via Via Montanari and has no architectural barriers. This allows the building complex and its current municipal use to be considered together. The manor house, barchesse and garden make up the described parts of the villa, while the library gives the building a contemporary function.

Villa Vecelli Cavriani was built in the centre of Mozzecane around the middle of the 18th century and restored after a period of decline. Its entrance is at Via Caterina Bon Brenzoni 5; access has no architectural barriers. The construction date and restoration mark different stages in its building history: the 18th-century construction on the one hand, and the later architectural and artistic intervention on the other.

Other villas show different dates and appearances. Villa Miniscalchi in San Zeno is stylistically dated to the first half of the 17th century. Villa Brenzoni lies on the northern side of Mozzecane’s town centre. It is thought to have originated in the 17th century, while its appearance is that of an 18th-century palazzo. The presumed date of origin and the appearance refer to different periods. Villa Canossa, in the eastern part of Grezzano, was built between 1769 and 1776. Comparing them, you can distinguish between a stylistic dating, a presumed origin and a precisely stated construction period.

The Strada del Riso Vialone Nano Veronese IGP route passes through Grezzano di Mozzecane to Villa Canossa. This makes it possible to place the building both in terms of its construction period and as a destination on a named route. At Canossa, then, building history and the route are connected.

Churches and art

The Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo in Mozzecane is documented in the 1145 papal bull “Piae postulatio voluntatis”. The present-day building was created through a reconstruction between 1747 and 1754. On the apse wall is Giovanni Caroto’s painting “Madonna col Bambino e i SS. Paolo e Faustino”, created around 1540. These dates refer to different aspects: the early documentary mention, the later reconstruction and a 16th-century work of art. Together, they offer insight into the church’s different historical layers.

The church in Grezzano was rebuilt in its present form between 1678 and 1682, based on a design by Veronese architect Vincenzo Pellesina. The interior decoration dates from 1944 and was executed by Gaetano Miolato. Here, the focus is on the 17th-century reconstruction and the later decoration of the interior. Unlike the single painting on the apse of the Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, the emphasis in Grezzano is on the decoration of the church interior. If you would like to include more destinations in your plans, also discover Buttapietra, Gazzo Veronese, Rivoli Veronese, Martella, Pesina, Calmasino, Cerro Veronese and Dolcé.

For the broader travel overview: Verona.