Piazza delle Erbe is the oldest square in Verona, and rises above the area of the Roman Forum. In the Roman age it was the center of political and economic life; over time the Roman buildings have been replaced to the medieval ones. In 2012 it was considered the most beautiful Italian city square, according to a research carried out by the Marilena Ferrari Foundation, which monitored 100 of the main foreign newspapers for a year.

The oldest monument in the square is the fountain surmounted by the statue called “Madonna Verona” from the Roman period - dated 380, with medieval additions. The fountain was commissioned by Cansignorio by assembling pieces from the Roman era - as per medieval tradition, with a large thermal bath and a statue from the Capitolium. It is said that it was once made of gold and that it was built on the occasion of the hydraulic work of Cansignorio, which brought water from Avesa to Piazza Erbe. The statue bears the old motto of the Municipality which reads "to this city that brings justice and loves praise”.

Another historical monument is the capital, called Tribuna. It is dated around the 13th century, a period in which it was used for various ceremonies.

Towards via Cappello there is an ancient column surmounted by a fourteenth-century aedicule, in whose niches the figures of the Virgin and the saints Zeno, Pietro Martire and Cristoforo are carved in relief.

In front of Palazzo Maffei stands a superb column in white marble, on top of which is the lion of San Marco, symbol of the Republic of Venice.