While overseas recently, I spent a day in the Italian city of Verona.  It is a beautiful city in Northern Italy which is famous for the fact that an ancient Roman amphitheatre still stands in the middle of the city.  It is also famous as a place for opera, (main image).

There is also an ancient church in the city called St Zeno, (photograph 2 below).  This was originally a monastery on the outskirts of the city.  It is famous for its doors which are covered in brass (I think) with images of scenes from the Scriptures (photographs 3 & 4). 

The ceiling on the inside of the Church is magnificent – the amount of work required to do it is almost beyond imagination, (photograph 5). Until a recent cleaning, the ceiling was barely visible but now appears in all its glory.

The nave of the church is likewise beautiful, (photograph 6).

St Zeno was an African who was Bishop of Verona and a martyr who is reputed to have died in 371A.D., (photograph 7).  You will notice that he has a fish attached to his crozier as he was said to catch the fish for his own meal.  He is also a patron of fishermen.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Photographs 2, 3 & 4:

Photographs 5, 6 & 7: