Verona earthquake

January 3, 1117

A violent shock along the Po Valley collapsed parts of Verona's Roman amphitheater, cracked the apse of Modena Cathedral still rising under Lanfranco's direction, and killed thousands across Lombardy. It was one of the worst Italian quakes of the medieval millennium. The destruction forced Veronese builders to reinforce the amphitheater's surviving arches with new masonry, blending Roman engineering with Romanesque techniques in a structure that still stands.