The Whale Bone in Verona

Verona, Italy is known as the city of Romeo and Juliet and is home to a centuries-old whalebone. The city lies 75 miles (120 km) from the sea and no one knows how or when it ended up where it hangs. The bone is believed to be a rib hanging in the center of the mediecal Arco Della Costa entry point. It's known that the bone has been there since the 1700s because of artwork, but it's believed that it may have been hung there since the 1400s when the arch was built in 1470.

The walkway above the arch it hangs from was used for safe passage for judges and magistrates between city hall and their living quarters. It was used to separate themselves from the common and corrupt people below. The legend goes that it will fall on the first innocent or truthful person to walk under the archway.

It's unknown wher who and why the whalebone was initially hung there. Some say that it was a relic brought back by Isreal Crusaders and displayed as a votive offering, or maybe it was never whalebone, to begin with, but a fossil of some sort of Marine animal and was hung for protection. Some believe that a pharmacy may have been in the area and since whalebone was used in medicine they hung it to advertise their shop. Truth is it will probably never be known.

SOURCES:

Obscura Atlas

Italian Notes

GPS My City

Trip Advisor