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| PADUA'S SITES | BRENTA'S RIVIERA |  |
| VENETO.ORG LINKS | ||
Where
is Padua? View geographic location  |
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Almost by way of contrast to its rapid modernization, Padova – a city of legendary origin – has kept intact to this day many authoritative signs of its glorious past. As a primary example, the city has preserved the Chapel of the Scrovegni, the pre-eminent masterpiece by Giotto, the greatest painter of the Middle Ages. But Giotto was not the only great artist in Padova's past: following him, other renowned painters created frescoes for the city monuments, with the result that Padova can lay claim to the greatest concentration of fresco cycles in all of Europe. Almost by way of contrast to its rapid modernization, Padova – a city of legendary origin – has kept intact to this day many authoritative signs of its glorious past. As a primary example, the city has preserved the Chapel of the Scrovegni, the pre-eminent masterpiece by Giotto, the greatest painter of the Middle Ages. But Giotto was not the only great artist in Padova's past: following him, other renowned painters created frescoes for the city monuments, with the result that Padova can lay claim to the greatest concentration of fresco cycles in all of Europe. Architectural and artistic treasures abound in the churches of Padova: from the Basilica of Saint Anthony (the patron saint) with its exquisite fusion of styles, to the Church of the Hermits (Chiesa degli Eremitani) which preserves the remains of ftescoes painted by the youthful Mantagna, to the Baptistry of the Duomo entirely frescoed by Giusto de' Menabuoi, to the majestic Basilica di Santa Giustina. On the subject of records," Padova can boast one such in regard its walls: the 16th century town wall with its beautiful gates is one of the longest in Italy. A visit to the Bo, site of the seven century old university - with its anatomy theatre, desk of Galileo, Aula Magna (Great Hall), and ancient courtyard - or to the famous Botanic Gardens (established in 1545), impresses upon us the importance of the scientific and artistic tradition of the "learned" Padova. The outlying province includes the green slopes of the Euganei Mountains, whose small towns host precious examples of architecture. On this subject, mention should be made of ArquA (where we can find the house of Petrarch) and a number of quiet monasteries, such as the Abbey of Praglia, one of the most striking monastic complexes in all of the Veneto. In the plain, on an isolated, coneshaped rock formation made even more spectacular by the presence of an imposing castle stronghold, we come upon Monselice, a site of singular seenic and historic attraction. Further along on the plain - in the so-called Bassa region - we can find evidence (courtyards and farms) of the astonishing land reorganization implemented by the Benedictines, who reclaimed an area once a swampland. At the foot of the last southern slopes of the Euganei hills, we find two towns which, with Monselice, share an ancient paleovenitian origin: Este and Montagnana. Este, an important Roman municipium, sits within embattled walls and towers and offers a highly-valued National Museum. Montagnana amazes visitors because of the imposing beauty of its 13th century curtain-like wall, a lengthy structure which transports us into an atmosphere authentically medieval. Similar amazement is prompted by Cittadella, an interesting fortified town erected in 1220 by the people of Padova. Among the many villas scattered throughout the province of Padova, Villa Contarini at Piazzola sul Brenta is distinguised for its incomparable splendour.