Padua - art, culture, religious and more travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Padua is a walled city situated along the Bachiglione River, between Verona and Venice. This city is one of the cultural and economic centers in the Northeast of Italy. Padua is a pilgrimage city, millions of pilgrims come here every year to visit the “Basilica di Sant’Antonio”, where the grave of “Sant’Antonio” is preserved. The other reason to visit this city is Giotto. In Padua you will find the most complete collection of works by Giotto. Set amongst the historic Euganaean Hills, Padua boasts a picturesque network of arcaded streets, numerous bridges, and large communal plazas. The historical center has maintained its medieval system with the characteristic interlaces of decorticate alleys that open themselves in wide public squares. In the public squares is concentrated the life of the city: Palazzo della Ragione, Palazzo Moroni, center of the Town Hall, Caffè Pedrocchi, historical coffee bar between the most famous of Italy, the ancient Università del Bo, they are in the vicinities of the three more famous public squares of the city: Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza della Frutta and Piazza dei Signori. Not to leave for the art lovers, the cycle of frescoes, work of Giusto de Menabuoi inside the Battistero del Duomo.Scrovegni Chapel holds the most complete cycle of entirely preserved frescoes produced by Giotto(1302-1305). They have maintained all their marvellous beauty! Palazzo della Ragione was built in 1218 by the Commune of Padua as the seat of the Podestà and the Law Courts. The upper floor is occupied by a single hall of exceptional dimensions entirely frescoed with astrological and religious subjects. Basilica of S. Anthony called by the Paduans simply “Santo” is an imposing construction built in the 13th century in Romanesque-Gothic style, with eight domes and belfries of eastern inspiration. It contains the body of St. Anthony. There are works by famous artists from the 13th to the 20th century, including those of Altichiero, Giusto de’ Menabuoi and Donatello. Galileo taught in Padua from 1592 to 1610. His chair can be seen in the “Room of the Forty”. The famous Anatomy Theatre, where Vesalius taught, is the oldest in the world (1594).

The world’s first botanical garden was created in Padua. The botanical garden, Orto Botanico di Padova, was founded in 1545. “The Botanical Garden of Padua is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world, and represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture.” — inscription on UNESCO World Heritage List.

Frescoes by Titian can be seen at the Scuola di S. Antonio the Prato della Valle, a 90,000 m² elliptical square has a wide garden surrounded by a trench which is lined by 78 statues portraying famous citizens. Santa Sofia is probably Padova’s most ancient church, the crypt being initiated in the late 10th century by Venetian craftsmen.