Boat Trip from Venice to Padua
The Brenta waterway to Padua has been a popular summer trip route of Venetian upper class for 500 years. Book a cruise for example by Il Burchiello (ilburchiello.it) and admire the beautiful villas and historic sights of Padua!
1. Prato della Valle
Photo from Flickr, copyright www.danbos.it
Prato della Valle is a 90,000 square meter elliptical square in Padua. It is the largest square in Italy, and one of the largest in Europe. Today, the square is a large space with a green island at the center, l'Isola Memmia, surrounded by a small canal bordered by two rings of statues.
Prior to 1635, the area was largely a featureless expanse of partially swampy terrain just south of the old city walls of Padova. In 1636 a group of Venetian and Veneto notables financed the construction there of a temporary but lavishly appointed theater as a venue for mock battles on horseback. The musical e ...
2. University of Padua
Photo from Flickr, copyright sandromars
The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. Padua is the second-oldest university in Italy and the world"s fifth-oldest surviving university.
Since 1595, Padua"s famous anatomical theatre drew artists and scientists studying the human body during public dissections. It is the oldest surviving permanent anatomical theatre in Europe. Anatomist Andreas Vesalius held the chair of Surgery and Anatomy (explicator chirurgiae) and in 1543 published his anatomical discoveries in De Humani Corporis F ...
3. Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua
Photo from Flickr, copyright bautisterias
The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, locally as 'il Santo' it is one of the eight international shrines recognized by the Holy See. Construction of the Basilica probably began around 1232, just one year after the death of St. Anthony. It was completed in 1310 although several structural modifications (including the falling of the ambulatory and the construction of a new choir screen) took place between the end of the 14th and the mid 15th century.
The Saint, according to his will, had been buried in the small church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, probably dating from the ...
4. Padua Botanical Garden
The Orto Botanico di Padova is a botanical garden in Padua, founded in 1545 by the Venetian Republic. It is the world's oldest academic botanical garden that is still in its original location. The garden, affiliated with the University of Padua, currently covers roughly 22,000 square meters, and is known for its special collections and historical design.
A circular wall enclosure was built to protect the garden from the frequent night thefts which occurred in spite of severe penalties (fines, prison, exile). The Botanical Garden was steadily enriched with plants from all over the world, parti ...
5. Scrovegni Chapel
Photo from Flickr, copyright Skiwalker79
The Scrovegni Chapel contains a fresco cycle by Giotto, completed about 1305 and considered to be an important masterpiece of Italian and European art. The fresco cycle details the life of the Virgin Mary and has been acknowledged by many to be one of the most important fresco cycles in the world.
The church was dedicated to Santa Maria della Carità at the Feast of the Annunciation, 1303, and consecrated in 1305.
Decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel was commissioned at the beginning of the fourteenth century by a wealthy Italian banker called Enrico Scrovegni. It was a family chapel, buil ...
6. Villa Pisani
Photo from Flickr, copyright phxdailyphotolady
Villa Pisani is the name shared by a number of villas commissioned by the patrician Pisani family of Venice. However, Villa Pisani usually refers to a large, late baroque villa at Stra.
The construction was begun in the early 18th century for Alvise Pisani, the most prominent member of the Pisani family, who was appointed doge in 1735. The initial models of the palace by Paduan architect Girolamo Frigimelica still exist, but the design of the main building was ultimately completed by Francesco Maria Preti. The villa has on its walls the works of Giambattista Tiepolo and other famous painters. ...
7. Padua Cathedral
Padua Cathedral is the third structure built on the same site. The first one was erected after the Edict of Milan in 313 and destroyed by an earthquake on 3 January 1117. It was rebuilt in Romanesque style: the appearance of the medieval church can be seen in the frescoes by Giusto de' Menabuoi in the adjoining baptistery.
The design of the existing cathedral is sometimes attributed to Michelangelo, but in fact it was the work of Andrea della Valle and Agostino Righetto, and has much in common with earlier Paduan churches. Although construction work began on the new Renaissance building in 15 ...
8. Villa Foscari
Photo from Flickr, copyright Mauro Bettarel
Villa Foscari is designed by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. It is also known as La Malcontenta, a nickname which it received when the spouse of one of the Foscaris was locked up in the house because she allegedly didn't live up to her conjugal duty.
The villa was commissioned by the brothers Nicolo and Luigi Foscari, members of a patrician Venetian family that produced Francesco Foscari, one of Venice's most noted doges. It was built between 1558 and 1560. It is located beside the Brenta canal and is raised on a pedestal, which is characteristic of Palladio's villas; this pedestal is ...
9. Villa Widmann
Photo from Flickr, copyright Barbara DALMAZZO-TEMPEL
The Villa Widmann-Foscari is located at the shores of the river Brenta located in the small town of Mira, between Venice and Padua. The present palace was built in the 18th century; a succession of families including the Scerimann, Donà, Foscari, had previously owned the site. The present villa was apparently designed and built in 1719 by Alessandro Tirali, a Venetian architect.
The Widmanns commissioned the internal frescoes mainly by Giuseppe Angeli, a pupil of Giambattista Piazzetta, and Gerolamo Mengozzi Colonna, who worked with Tiepolo. The Villa is surrounded by cypress and ...
10. Villa Giovanelli Colonna
The Villa Giovannelli Colonna is a rural palace which was commissioned in the late 17th century by the Giovanelli family to the architect Antonio Gaspari.
In 1738 Andrea Giovanelli and his brother Benedetto decorated the facade of the Villa with the festive Pronaos and a precious entrance stairway by Giorgio Massari. On the balustrades are six allegorical statues representing the five senses: the Belvedere (sight/male), Il Odorato (smell/male), Il Tatto (touch/female), L"Udire (hearing/female), Il Gusto (taste/female) which are observed by La Ragione. They were executed ...