The Scaliger Tombs are a monumental funerary complex of the Scaligeri family.
Built next to the church of Santa Maria Antica, near Piazza dei Signori, they house the tombs (arches) of the most important members of the family.
They are the most important buildings of the Veronese Middle Ages and among the most famous monuments of European Gothic art.
The three major arks are those of:
- Cangrande I Della Scala, located above the portal of the church, is the first of the tombs to have been built, in the fourteenth century, by the will of the deceased himself. On the top of the canopy there is a copy of the equestrian statue of Cangrande I, the original of which has been kept at the Castelvecchio Museum since 1921 together with the funerary equipment.
- Mastino II, begun in 1345, underwent numerous design changes over the years: originally it was painted and gilded, surrounded by a gate at the corners of which there are four statues of the Virtues.
- Cansignorio, dating back to 1375, is the most richly decorated with sculptures depicting warrior saints, characters from the Gospels, Virtues and Apostles, as well as the large equestrian statue of Cansignorio.
In the enclosure of the Scaliger Tombs there are also the sarcophagi of Albert I, Bartholomew I and that of Alboin I.
The tombs are enclosed by a wrought iron enclosure in which the motif of the staircase, symbol of the Della Scala family, recurs.
