Chiesa di San Fermo Maggiore

Just a short walk from the riverbank, San Fermo Maggiore offers a rare architectural experience. From the outside, the facade blends Romanesque and Gothic styles, but the real surprise is inside, where two distinct churches sit stacked on top of one another. Descend the stairs to the Lower Church (the original Romanesque structure). The atmosphere shifts completely here—it is cooler, dimmer, and filled with ancient stone columns. It feels much older and more spiritual, offering a quiet contrast to the grandeur above.

Verona is not short of good churches but this is interesting because you can see two churches, one on top of the other, plus even some foundation remnants of the earlier 5th century church. So it is possible to compare early Christian, Benedictine Romanesque, and Franciscan Gothic styles and chart the history of development in to what you see today.

Chiesa di San Fermo Maggiore can be visited on the combined €8 ticket and is one of the four main churches in Verona. It is comprised of a lower church and an upper church and both are worth visiting. There are beautiful frescoes and artwork to be found throughout both churches.

Defintiley worth checking out if your up around this area. We stumbled across it and decided to pay the €4 entry fee. They give you a small device that tells you the history of the place as you walk around.

Wonderful view of how the church grew and changed through the successive orders that ran it. Topped with a spectacular wooden ceiling and carefully preserved and restored frescoes, the church is an incredible visit

This church is not as popular as the duomo but just like it, it too has 2 churches inside with San Fermo having an upper and lower church. The lower church is smaller and has a lot of columns while the upper church is quite grand with a lot of paintings. There are several sarcophagi in this church.

The last of the four churches of Verona we visited with a combined ticket of 8 euro per person. It was the least exciting one. The church is dedicated to Fermo and Rustico, two martyrs who were killed in 404 AD. The red brick exterior is stunning. The inside is beautiful, but less mesmerizing than other Verona churches. The Romanesque church on the lower floor is most impressive.

It is one of the main churches, ticket is 4€ or you can buy for 4 main churches 8€. It has two floors which are the lower church and the upper church, and has little chiostro. One of the main painting Capella Alighieri. The descendants of Dante Alighieri are buried in this chapel.