It is the largest, most solemn and representative church in Verona, a reflection of a lively moment in the city's life, when the expansion and consolidation of political and economic institutions allowed the community, in synergy with the Scaliger rule, the Dominican clergy and the Castelbarco family, to make a considerable financial effort to build this important temple, a symbol of their power.

In the years immediately following its construction, it became a point of reference on which the designs of several other religious buildings were based, especially thanks to some innovations that St. Anastasia introduced into the plan, with the development of a wide transept and the articulation of the apsidal area into four chapels on either side of the presbytery, where the high altar is located, to the wall structure entirely in brick and to the new type of bell tower.

[9] The earliest news of this first construction is contained in a diploma dated October 2, 890, issued by the King of Italy Berengar I, in which reference is made "ad ecclesiam Sanctae Anastasiae" about the city of Verona.

[10] Sources show that the collegiate of religious who worked in the church in the 12th century was very numerous and important, so much so that there are several documents that mention the priests at their head:[11] for example, a contract informs that a certain Bonseniore held the office of archpriest in March 1114, while a few decades later Pope Alexander III issued a decretal to Theobald and the clerics of Santa Anastasia in Verona.

[15] For this purpose, one third of the one thousand five hundred Veronese lire obtained from the sale of Maria Mater Domini to the nuns of San Cassiano was used to buy the land around the ancient Santa Anastasia and to finance the first construction works.

[16] Although a document dated March 20, 1280, which reads "in domo ecclesie sancte Anasasie" shows that the Dominicans were already involved in the new project, it took about thirty years after the abandonment of Maria Mater Domini before the actual construction began.

[19][20] Construction of the new and current basilica began in 1290, at a time when traditional Romanesque architecture was being abandoned in favor of Gothic, the style in which the building was designed,[17] and the Dominicans received a land grant from Bishop Pietro I della Scala, dated April 2, 1292, to widen the entrance to the church and open up the view.

[note 2][14] In the first years, work on the building continued apace, supported by numerous donations and legacies, especially from members of the Della Scala family, such as Alberto I, who left a thousand Veronese lire, Cangrande II and Cansignorio.

An analysis of the building's materials suggests that at the time of Castelbarco's death in 1320, the apses, the high altar, the transept, the perimeter walls at least to half their final height, and the lower part of the façade had been completed.

[26] The basilica was solemnly consecrated on October 22, 1471, by Cardinal and Bishop of Verona Giovanni Michiel, although the building site remained open for more than two centuries, during which time the side chapels were added, but the façade was never completed.

When the city returned to the rule of the Serenissima, in 1522 the frames of the panels decorating the pilasters of the main door were laid, in 1533 the square in front of it was paved, and at Easter 1591 a telamon by Paolo Orefice was placed to support the stoup.

[31] These frescoes seem to be largely lost today, despite a not very successful retouching during the restoration of 1881;[32] the art historian Adolfo Venturi has recognized in these paintings the influence of the school of Stefano da Zevio, attributing them to some of his pupils.

[33][34] The smaller arches rest on the architrave of the portal, which is decorated in bas-relief with six representations in chronological order of the life of Christ: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Way to Calvary, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

Opposite is St. Dominic, with the star under his feet; on the left, St. Peter the Martyr, preaching to the crowd,[35] with the sun below; and on the right, St. Thomas, towering above the moon, holding the Book of the Doctors of the Church, while instructing a young monk.

There is a document, now lost, dated January 15, 1433, by the notary Antonio of Cavagion (today Cavaion Veronese), according to which the Dominican monks sold a house for 50 ducats and used the proceeds "for the construction of the bell tower".

On three small stones set in the sides of the bell tower, the following inscription is carved in 15th century characters: "CHRISTUS REX | VENIT IN | PACE DEUS | ET HOMO | FATUS EST".

The apse is polygonal and is lit by five high arched monoforas, closed by polychrome stained glass from 1935, depicting, from left to right, St. Thomas, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Peter the Martyr, St. Rose of Lima and St. Dominic de Guzmán.

[66] The monument rises from a panel bordered by a flowering branch and is well integrated with the other representations inserted in the large frieze in shades of grey that frames the scene, the latter characterized by the presence of noble coats of arms and heads of Roman emperors; among the representations just mentioned, in the center of an elaborate urban setting, there is an Annunciation inserted in a mandorla, in which the Eternal Father finds space surrounded by a cloud of angels, while below are the two Dominican Saints Peter and Dominic, surmounted by two angels bearing their symbols.

[note 9] He also provides a detailed description of the altar, focusing on the family coat of arms placed on the pediment, marked with the motto "potius mori quam scedari" and adorned with two putti.

The central statue, set in an aedicule, represents Christ the Redeemer, and on the pedestal is carved an inscription attesting to the authorship of the work by Danese Cattaneo: "ABSOLVTVM OPVS AN DO M D LXV DANESIO CATANEO CARRARIENSI SCVLPTORE ET ARCHITECTO".

[84] In front of the altar, the family tomb was excavated, surmounted by an oval stone on which the following epigraph was engraved in a single line: "HERCVLES FREGOSIVS IN QVO SVA POSTERORVMQ HVMANARENTVR OSSA M. P. C."[88] On the wall is a herm set in memory of Abbot Bartolomeo Lorenzi.

[96][99][100] Dedicated to St. Martin, it was built in 1541 at the behest of Flavio Pindemonte, as can be seen from the inscription on the family tomb on the right wall: "FLORIVS PINDEMONTIVS || NOBILITATE PRAEFVLGENS || JOANNI VENETORVM || MILITVM DVCTORI || INCLITO AC DESIDERATO || CARISS.

[103] The altarpiece, a late work by Giovan Francesco Caroto dated 1542, depicts St. Martin giving his cloak to a poor man, with the Virgin in glory, in which one of the famous sunsets by the Veronese painter can be seen.

[note 10][104] Caroto was a pupil of Liberale da Verona, from whom he derived formal and chromatic tendencies, but he was also influenced by Mantegna;[31] his brother Giovanni collaborated with the historian Torello Saraina on a work aimed at rediscovering the city's antiquities, which suggests his contribution to the inspiration of the stonecutter for the Roman arch.

Other authors, such as Carlo Cipolla, see in this chapel the remains of a 13th-century building that had nothing to do with the present structure, but which, for unknown reasons, had to be preserved: the former church of Santa Anastasia,[110] a position not supported by any historical or architectural evidence.

[122] The remarkable altarpiece, painted by Nicolò Giolfino, depicts the Redeemer between Saints George and Erasmus,[115] and on the wall is the tomb of Giuseppe Torelli, mathematician and man of letters from Verona, designed by Michelangelo Castellazzi and sculpted by Francesco Zoppi.

The construction of the altar dates back to 1436, according to a design attributed to Pietro da Porlezza, while the material execution was carried out by a certain Mastro Agnolo; the historian Luigi Simeoni speaks of it as a "marvelous work of the Renaissance.

[50][135][136] The Virgin in the center probably represents the first example of the diffusion of this subject also in Venetian lands, here depicted not in the more modest and "domestic" version typical of its introducer Simone Martini and his followers, but in that of the "majestic woman" first experimented by Bartolomeo da Camogli: although lactans and seated on the ground, she actually appears surrounded by angels in gilded monochrome, standing out against the red background.

Before entering it, on the wall inside the church, one can see frescoes attributed to Boninsegna and three canvases depicting St. Cecilia, the Miracle of St. Hyacinth and the Deposition and St. Paul, St. Dionysius, Magdalene and devotees by Turchi, Farinati and Morone, respectively.

The two large stained glass windows, still well preserved thanks to a restoration in 1969, are of great value, being dated around 1460, making them the oldest found in Verona,[115][145] characterized by the colors white, green and red, with simple ornamentation and without figures.