Padua
Padua
PADUA AND THE EUGANEAN HILLS - ARQUA’ PETRARCA - MONSELICE - ESTE
While Padua has many outstanding works of art, perhaps it is one of all the major cities in Veneto, which has a less monumental aspect.
Despite its rather irregular topography, it has picturesque views with its old neighborhoods and long arcaded streets. With its numerous students, the life in Padua is very lively and unique. The university maintains the city’s cultural prestige high, supported by a rich artistic heritage of churches and museums.
The most important ones are the basilica dedicated to S. Antonio, the church of Santa Giustina which has a grandiose structure, the Cathedral and the Baptistery with the works of Giusto dei Manabuoi, the Scrovegni Chapel frescoed by Giotto and the Museum of the Eremitani.
The Prato della Valle looks like a particular and wide esplanade, in its center a tree-lined space located, which is gracefully decorated with statues and surrounded by a canal.
In Piazza dei Signori is the Ex Capitano, its facade (built by Falconetto in 1532) incorporates the arch of the Clock, the first clock in Italy, dates back to 1437.
Continuing the excursion to the Euganean Hills we can stop at the archaeological excavations of Montegrotto Terme, at the abbey of Praglia (the oldest one in Veneto), in Arquá Petrarca at the house of Francesco Petrarca, in Monselice with the Cini castle or in Este, a charming town at the foot of the hills, where you can admire the remains of the ancient ducal castle from the sixteenth-century and the National Museum of Atesino, one of the most important archaelogical museums in Italy, which is in Palazzo Mocenigo also from the sixteens-century.