The Patron
San Zeno
Zeno di Verona is the patron. The FEAST field gives 21 May, while the traditions text separately associates San Zeno with 12 April; it does not reconcile the dates.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Verona,
Veneto
A city with vital registers reaching deep into the seventeenth century.
Verona holds vital registers a century and a half older than Napoleon. Alongside the Napoleonic fonds, the Archivio di Stato di Verona keeps:
Morti in città, 1630–1800 ;
Nati e battezzati in città, 1731–1800 ;
Nati e battezzati nel territorio, 1732–1806 ;
Morti nel territorio, 1732–1802 .
City and countryside, births and deaths, for the whole eighteenth century.
And it has put an enormous amount online: 3,458,644 images from 35,319 registers covering 1871–1942 — the citizenship, birth, death and marriage acts, with publications and annexes, of every comune in the province .
But none of it is indexed. To find a birth you must turn the images of the relevant year one by one.
The Records
Deaths from 1630
Verona's archive holds Morti in città, 1630–1800, alongside eighteenth-century city and territorial birth and death registers — a family-history resource extending far beyond ordinary civil registration.
The Landmark
Basilica di San Zeno
The Basilica di San Zeno is the patronal landmark, with medieval bronze doors and Mantegna's altarpiece. For 1815–1870 research, parish and diocesan registers again become the primary vital source.
Did you know?
MILLIONS OF IMAGES ONLINE — BUT NO NAME INDEX
Browse by comune, year and record type
Antenati carries more than 3.4 million images from 35,319 registers for 1871–1942, but they are not name-indexed. Use decennial indexes where present, then browse the relevant register page by page.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
The local speech is Veronese, a western Venetian variety, with Cimbrian of German origin surviving in parts of the Lessinia.
Start before Napoleon
Verona has been a place of first importance since the Romans: the Arena of the first century AD is the third-largest amphitheatre to survive, and the city's grid still follows the Roman one inside the bend of the Adige.
Under the Scaligeri , from the thirteenth century, it became a regional power — the Castelvecchio and its bridge, the Arche scaligere and the fortified hill above the river all date from that lordship. In 1405 Verona submitted to Venice , and remained a mainland province of the Republic until 1797 .
That long Venetian government produced the institutions whose records survive: the Collegio dei notai , whose Matricula notariorum covers 1409–1611 in an illuminated register, and the Antico archivio del Comune di Verona , which holds drawings including a plan of the city between via Nuova, via Grande del Ghetto and the portico of via dei Pellicciai, dated 1776 — a reminder that Verona had a ghetto , and that its Jewish community is documented in the city's own papers.
After Venice fell, Verona became Austrian, and then — uniquely among Venetian cities — one of the four fortresses of the Quadrilatero , the defensive system on which Austrian rule in Italy rested. That garrison status is why the Distretto militare di Verona holds so much: it was a military city for two generations, and it kept the paperwork.
The Imperial Regia Pretura Urbana operated from 1818 to 1866 , and its inheritance and guardianship files are among the richest genealogical material in the Veneto.
Verona joined Italy in 1866 with the rest of the region, and the civil status of the comuni of the province runs from 1871 .
The city's Roman, Scaligeri and Venetian layers together earned it UNESCO inscription in 2000 .
Postcards from Verona
Wear Verona
WANT TO SEE VERONA REPRESENTED?
Castellesi hasn't made anything for this place yet. Requests are how we decide which comuni come next — every one is read, and the places people ask for are the places that get made.
REQUEST VERONA →Where this
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PROVINCIA DI VERONA
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Verona and its remarkable comuni.
REGIONE VENETO
From the mountains to the sea, Veneto is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE VENETO →From the passenger index
At least 749 people who gave Verona as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
An amphitheatre still working after two thousand years
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Verona Villafranca Airport.
Verona is one of the most complete historic cities in Italy, and UNESCO-listed since 2000 .
Start at the Arena , built in the first century AD and in use ever since — the opera festival has run here every summer since 1913 . Then Piazza delle Erbe , still the market square on the site of the Roman forum, and Piazza dei Signori with the Scaligeri palaces and the Arche scaligere , their canopied tombs.
Climb the Torre dei Lamberti for the two bells: the Marangona , rung for fires and the working day, and the Rengo , which called the citizens to assembly.
Walk out to the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore for the patron — bronze doors of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and Mantegna's altarpiece.
Cross to Castelvecchio and its bridge, and up to the Teatro Romano and Castel San Pietro for the view over the Adige.
And note where the ghetto stood, between via Nuova and via dei Pellicciai — mapped in a plan of 1776 held in the city's own archive.
Out of town, the Valpolicella and Soave vineyards, and the Lessinia , where Cimbrian was spoken.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
Verona holds city death registers from 1630 and 3.4 million images online for 1871-1942 - but none of them are indexed, so browse by comune and year.
Archivio di Stato di Verona on Antenati
Lists the Napoleonic civil status of the Dipartimento dell'Adige and of the city for 1806-1815, the Nati e battezzati in citta of 1731-1800, the Morti in citta of 1630-1800, the territory series of 1732-1806 and 1732-1802, the civil status of the province's comuni for 1871-1988 and of the Comune di Verona for 1885-1988; the Distretto militare holdings including conscription lists for classes 1900-1947, matricular rolls for 1862-1945 and the Mantova provincial rolls for 1866-1913; the Imperial Regia Pretura Urbana series of inheritances, guardianships and trusteeships permitting research into entire family groups; and the Istituto Esposti of 1808-1938.
antenati.cultura.gov.itArchivio di Stato di Verona - ricerche per corrispondenza
Explains that the civil-status acts for 1871-1942 have been published on the Antenati portal, and how to navigate them - selecting sfoglia i registri, then the archive, then the catalogued comuni, the years within each and the record types available such as cittadinanze, nati, morti, matrimoni and indici decennali.
archiviodistatoverona.cultura.gov.itL'archivio di Stato e online - L'Arena
Reports that the Archivio di Stato di Verona has placed 3,458,644 images from 35,319 registers covering 1871-1942 on the portal, comprising the citizenship, birth, death and marriage acts with publications and annexes of all the comuni of the province, and that these have not been indexed - so finding an act means turning the images of the relevant year one by one.
larena.itState Archives of Verona - Ancestors Portal
Confirms in English that the Eredita, tutele, curatele series allows genealogical research into entire families in social, economic and private terms, that the Istituto Esposti files are divided into males and females, and that a database of the inventories is available.
antenati.cultura.gov.itSIAS - Archivio di Stato di Verona
Records the archive's holdings of pre-unification and post-unification institutions together with private and family archives, and names among its treasures the illuminated frontispiece of the Matricula notariorum of 1409-1611 in the Collegio dei notai and the 1776 plan of the city between via Nuova, via Grande del Ghetto and the portico of via dei Pellicciai in the Antico archivio del Comune.
sias-archivi.cultura.gov.itRelated places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.
Your Roots. Their Story. Your Place.
Verona is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →