Goethe's Tree

When you think about Goethe's tree the thought immediately leads to the beech tree of Weimar where the writer loved to stop and write, as narrated in Helga Schneider's novel, but in reality there was another tree very dear to the German poet and playwright, and it was located right in Verona and more precisely in the garden area of Giardino Giusti.

The structure of Palazzo Giusti and the Garden was built at the end of the 15th century and took its present form only in 1570 thanks to the Knight of the Venetian Republic and Grand Duke of Tuscany Agostino Giusti, and although it has undergone various changes over the centuries, it still retains its charm. Palazzo Giusti is also known for its famous visitors, who stayed here such as Cosimo De' Medici, Charles De Brosses, Joseph Addison, Emperor Joseph II, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carlo Felice di Savoia, André Suares and Gabriel Faure and finally Goethe.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is responsible for the name of one of the most popular spots in the park. It is said that the German writer, traveling through Italy, came to visit the park in 1786, and was enchanted by a tree in particular, a majestic cypress over six hundred years old, located immediately at the entrance of the park on the right, among whose branches he stopped later to rest.

The tree, due to a heavy hail in Verona on August 23rd, 2020, was almost completely destroyed.