San Zeno in Oratorio

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Church of San Zeno in Oratorio (San Zenetto)
Via San Zeno in Oratorio
Verona, May 2025

“The church of San Zeno in Oratorio, also known as the church of San Zenetto, is a Catholic place of worship located in the San Zeno district of Verona, a few steps from Castelvecchio; it is part of the diocese of Verona. This name was only adopted starting from the 16th century, while previously the church was called ‘San Zeno Oratore’ or ‘San Zeno Orante’, as it traditionally stands in the favourite place of San Zeno, who retreated there to pray and fish sitting on a large rock. The church was built near what had been considered a very important suburban road since ancient times, the Via Gallica to Brescia, not far from the point where it separated from the Via Postumia. The road to Brescia assumed even greater importance in the imperial age and in late antiquity, as a section of the route that led from Milan to Aquileia; the persistence of this route, on which the church overlooked, is also documented in the Middle Ages, when the small building was built. Furthermore, between the 1st and 4th centuries, a vast necropolis was active in this area, so much so that during some archaeological excavations around eighty tombs were discovered, a fact that explains the presence of several Roman artefacts reused inside the small church.” (Chiesa di San Zeno in Oratorio, Wikipedia)