The church of San Zeno in Oratorio (also known as San Zenetto to distinguish it from Zeno Maggiore) stood near Via Postumia, beyond the Roman city walls and, in particular, from the 12th century onwards, close to the Morbio gate (now included in the walls of Castelvecchio). The bridge over the Adige River, built before the crenellated bridge at Castelvecchio (1354), was located more or less on the axis of the church. The present-day sacred building was constructed between the 12th and 13th centuries, in the typical Veronese Romanesque style. The tripartite façade with a central rose window, reminiscent of that of San Zeno Maggiore, reflects the internal division into three naves separated by arches and columns. The chancel is raised and displays the central span covered by a masonry dome with a lantern at the top.
As a church connected to the river (but also to the mouth of the canal known as Adigetto, which enclosed the ancient city in the river bend), it has endured countless floods, most recently the disastrous one in 1882. Further damage ensued when the retreating German army blew up the 14th-century bridge in 1945.
The church is home to the most unusual relic attributed to Saint Zeno, the bishop, namely the stone on which, according to tradition, the saint used to fish in the Adige River. The relic also has a strong symbolic meaning: Saint Zeno, evangeliser, was also a "fisher of men". Nowadays, the stone is supported by a cylindrical Roman funeral altar, which contains a shrine decorated with bunches of grapes and vine leaves surrounding two busts of a man and a woman.