PADUA: THE NEIGHBOURING UNKNOWN

Half an hour from Venice we find the beautiful city of Padua, the oldest in the North of Italy, famous for its university and by the imposing Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua. The city offers a wide range of cultural, gastronomic and leisure. Worth a visit to the neighbor island of Venice for the be a gem completely unknown.

Almost all travelers who decide to come to Venice take advantage of a morning to visit the beautiful islands of Murano and Burano, increasingly, that they reserve a day to wander through the old streets of Verona, city of Romeo and Juliet, and in many cases, the route includes a stop in the Alps Dolomites or on the Lago di Garda, but there are few who decide to spend a few hours in the nearby city of Padua, missing out on one of the most beautiful cities in the north of Italy. In this article we are going to tell you the beautiful places and secrets of this medieval city so unknown to the travelers.

Padua (Padova in Italian) is located 39km of Venice, if we opt for the train to get there, the route does not reach half an hour. Padua is known as the "little Amsterdam" because of the large number of bikes that cross the city in all directions, adding this to the large number of trams that cross its streets and that speed is one of the characteristic features of the driver in Italian, the traveler must pay special attention to the traffic, but wants to go wrong while standing. Despite the fact that Padua is not a big city (200,000 inhabitants), if that gives the impression of being a very cosmopolitan, and this is due, among other things, to count on with one of the most prestigious universities in the World. The University of Padua, is considered as the second oldest in Italy, after Bologna) was founded in 1222, and its headquarters is located in the Palazzo Bo, in the centre of the city. It is one of the universities preferred by the italians to make your career, and also by the erasmus of the rest of Europe, which makes that in the period of study Padua to significantly increase their population with students coming from other countries. Another aspect that gives Padua that cosmopolitan character is that it is a city of pilgrimage, a multitude of pilgrims flock to visit the remains of the holy Fernando de Bulhões, more known as San Antonio de Padua, inside the Basilica of the same name. The creation, in 2010, the "Way of San Antonio", taking as a reference the ancient Camino de Santiago in Spain, has increased the number of pilgrims visiting Padua walk from Camposampiero, 25Km, for being the place where he lived the holy before embarking on his last trip to Padua, where he died in 1231. Note also the large number of nightclubs and entertainment in the city, being one of the few places in Italy where we find a certain night, as the alpine country is not much given to staying up late.

The history of Padua dates back to the prehistoric period, but it is in the II century a. C when Patavium (roman name of Padua) is of great importance, basically for its agricultural wealth, enriched by be found in the vega of the river Bachiglione and Brenta, which flows into the Venetian Lagoon, and by the processing of wool from the meadows of the plateau of Asiago. Padua, as the rest of Western Europe, had succumbed to the invasions of the barbarians, particularly of the lombards and the huns, whose king, Attila, the looted in the 450. After a brief period under byzantine rule, in the year 601 was conquered and destroyed by king lombardo Agilulfo. Towards the ELEVENTH Century the city began to go regaining your power, in 1222 he founded the university that became very famous, especially for its research in medicine, astronomy, philosophy and law. It is the first university in the World that was awarded an academic degree to a woman, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Psicopia, a degree in philosophy in 1678. Through its classrooms have past characters just as important as nicolaus Copernicus or Galileo Galilei, specialized both in astronomy. In the FIFTEENTH-Century Padua falls under the domain of the Republic of Venice, which will last until the invasion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the EIGHTEENTH Century. In 1866, king Victor emmanuel II annexed the city to the kingdom of Italy, since this year the history and culture of the city padana will be linked to the Italian state.

The artistic and cultural wealth of Padua is immense, the simple fact of walking through its narrow cobbled streets and arcaded, admiring its medieval buildings decorated with fresco paintings, is already an experience. Below is a list of the major places of artistic and cultural interest that stands this city within its walls:

• Prato della Valle: it is the most important square of Padua, the largest in Italy, and is located on the site of the ancient roman theater. It acquires its current monumental form in the EIGHTEENTH Century, with a ring of water central flanked by 78 statues representing artists related to the city.
• Capilla Scrovegni: it is a private chapel, commissioned by the wealthy banker Enrico degli Scovegni in 1305. The importance of this chapel lies in the frescoes of the interior made by Giotto, these detailed a cycle of the life of the Virgin Mary and are considered as one of the cycles of frescoes, most important in the World, serving as a reference to michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel of Rome.
• The Palazzo della Regione (1218): it was the seat of the government and of the courts of the city. It is a building built on arches and on its top surrounded by a loggia open. The indoor living area boasts the most extensive of Europe without being supported by any column, and decorated with allegorical frescoes. The building is located between two squares, the erbe and fruits, dedicated since the Middle Ages to the sale of vegetables and fruits, respectively, and that still today continue to maintain that same role.
• Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua (1230): it is the most important monument of the city, in the rest the bones of the saint of lisbon, which has become a place of pilgrimage especially from Portugal. It is a gothic style building and called attention to its seven cupolas, two pyramids, which give you more grandeur to the whole. In front of the basilica, there is a statue of the sculptor Donatello, 1453, is considered as the first equestrian statue cast in bronze.
• The walls: built in the SIXTEENTH century and with 11Km length. We also found the ruins of other walls smaller of the THIRTEENTH Century, and a small castle whose main tower became astronomical observatory in the EIGHTEENTH Century.
• Piazza dei Signori: if the square of the erbe has a more commercial, this would have a political function. In its interior, the Palace Capitanio, residence of the rulers and the Clock Tower, inspired by Venice. In the center of the square there is a column with a winged lion on the top, this column appears in all the towns and cities that have formed part of the Republic of Venice, as the winged lion represents the patron saint of the city: Saint Mark the evangelist.
  In addition to the Basilica of San Antonio, several churches dot the urban landscape of Padua including the Cathedral, the renaissance style, and under the patronage of Saint Mary of the Assumption; the church of Santa Sofia, the oldest of all, of the tenth century and the romanesque style; the Basilica of Santa Giustina of the FIFTEENTH Century, the Church of the Eremitiani of the THIRTEENTH Century or the Synagogue baroque.

The importance of Padua is not only limited to the local art and culture, the city also offers us a wide range of leisure activities. Have always had a reputation of its artisanal products, the main streets are filled with shops that offer numerous religious objects, antiques, pottery, sweets, and all type of handmade products. Its gastronomic offer is not back, highlighting the products of poultry such as chicken paduan, the duck and the goose. It is a land very rich in olive trees and vineyards so that the oil and the wine are of very good quality. Padua is a great place to go shopping, you will find a lot more variety than in Venice, and at a price lower than in Milan. And, of course, is one of the few places in Italy to go to nightclubs.

With this information we hope that visitors to Venice will be encouraged to invest a few hours in this wonderful city where no shortage of beauty, culture and art mixed in with a good atmosphere and superb cuisine.