Santa Marta’s warehouse complex, in Italian Caserma di Santa Marta, is located in Veronetta, a region on the east side of Verona. Originally, it was a place where bread and biscuits were made for the Austrian soldiers in the 19th Century. Today, although some of its houses are old and uninhabitable, it hosts the headquarters for some associations, as well as a university faculty.
The History of Santa Marta
The main building of Santa Marta was commonly called the Panificio, and it is where the bread and biscuits, the central element of the soldiers’ diet, were cooked. On the ground floor of the Panificio, twelve ovens used to cook 52000 daily rations of bread and 20 quintals of biscuits. In the basement, perishable products were stored and their freshness was maintained by a natural venting system. Other depots were located in the upper stories. The creators of the building left their mark on a column in the atrium, where we can find the manes and coat-of-arms of Andreas Tunkler, director of the Genie of Verona, Ferdinand Artmann, expert of the catering corps, and Anton Narefi-Rainer, who probably carried out the architectural project and the particular “Nordic” style of the building.
