Hotels Padua - Padova

Padova, city of ancient origins, is located in the center of the Venitian plain, among lagunas, hills and the Prealp mountains, and it is the economic capital of Veneto. The city has thousand faces: the knowledge and the culture, thanks to its famous university, the religion, for Sant'Antonio, the art, thanks to the works of Giotto, Tiepolo and Donatello, the terme, one of the most equipped of Europe.
 
Padova has an history long nearly 3000 years. It became a Roman municipuim in the 45 B.C and it was one of the richest cities of the empire, and after the period of the barbaric invasions, in the XII century it became a free commune and it began its gold period. The university was founded in 1221, the second oldest in Italy, and a few years later the city became a place of pilgrimage following the death here of Sant'Antonio. In 1337 the De Carrara family established control, assuring a short period of peace and prosperity, during which Padova accommodated personages like Giotto, Dante and Petrarch. In 1405 the city's indipendence ended with its conquest by the Venetian Republic, but the town remained an artistic and cultural center: Donatello and Mantegna worked here and in the XVII century Galileo researched at the university.
After the Austrian domination the city was annexed to Italy in 1866.

Padova still preserves intact the signs of its prestigious past.
The animated historic center, with its vivacious squares, open galleries, splendid palaces, boasts artistic and architectural treasures of great beauty like the Basilica of Sant'Antonio, than conserve the remains of the Saint, the Cappella degli Scrovegni, the masterpiece of Giotto with its precious frescos, like the Giudizio Universale, the enclosed city wall, one of the most extensive in Italy, and the famous Orto Botanico. But all the churches and the palaces of Padova deserve a visit, for the variety of styles that is possible to admire and for the precious works of art that nearly always they accommodate.

Near the university the Prato della Valle rises, an enormous ovoidal square encircled by a channel and around it there are many statues that represent the most illustrious citizens of Padova.
Not far from the city, on the Euganei hills, there are the localities of Battaglia, known for its terme, Montagnana, with the imposing wall perfectly conserved and Arquà, where it is possible to visit the Petrarch house.

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