The oldest public lapidary museum in the world. Founded 1738. Almost never visited
Museo Maffeiano
Next to the Arena, in a building that most visitors to Verona pass without noticing, is the Museo Maffeiano: founded in 1738 by the Veronese scholar Scipione Maffei and one of the first public museums in Europe. It's a lapidary — a collection of inscribed stone slabs, altars, sarcophagi and steles — with objects spanning 2,500 years, in Greek, Latin, Etruscan, Venetian and Raetic. The collection was important enough that Goethe mentioned it on his visit to Verona. Napoleon tried to take it to Paris. Almost no tourist enters it. Almost no tourist knows it exists.
Visitor Tip
Ask for the map at the entrance. The collection spans 2,500 years of inscriptions in Greek, Latin, Etruscan, Venetian and other languages. It's a lapidary — a museum of inscribed stones — but the sheer density of information per square metre makes it one of Verona's most serious cultural experiences.