Padua Italy
Frequently Asked Questions
River vessels reach the city along the Piovego canal and tie up at the edge of the historic centre. Padua is a river cruise call on the waterway linking the Brenta to the Venetian lagoon, roughly 40 km west of Venice.
Mostly, yes. The historic centre begins at the end of the quay: the market squares, the university and the Scrovegni Chapel are all within reasonable walking range. The Basilica of St Anthony and the Prato della Valle, further south, mean a longer walk or a few minutes by tram.
Yes, without exception. Entry is by timed group after a climate-controlled airlock of about fifteen minutes that protects the frescoes from humidity. Without a prior booking you will very likely leave without seeing Giotto's masterpiece.
Because Giotto painted there, between 1303 and 1305, a complete cycle on the lives of the Virgin and Christ, crowned by a Last Judgment. Glances, gestures, emotion: for the first time painted figures seemed to be alive. It is a turning point in Western painting.
You have to choose. One plan that works: the Scrovegni Chapel on a booked slot, then Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta around the Palazzo della Ragione, a mint coffee at Caffè Pedrocchi and the anatomical theatre at Palazzo Bo. Adding the Basilica of St Anthony means dropping something else.
The medieval courthouse that divides Piazza delle Erbe from Piazza della Frutta. Its upper hall, among the largest in Europe, sits beneath an upturned wooden hull. On the ground floor, cheesemongers, butchers and bakers carry on seven centuries of trade under the arcades.
The anatomical theatre of 1595, the oldest surviving in the world: a steep wooden funnel where students watched dissections. The university, founded in 1222 and where Galileo taught, is visited at Palazzo Bo by reservation.
Yes, if time allows. Founded in 1545 for the study of medicinal plants, it is the oldest university garden in the world still on its original site, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. A palm planted in 1585, known as Goethe's palm, still grows under its glasshouse.
The euro and Italian. Cards are accepted everywhere, including for museum tickets. English is widely spoken at tourist sites and around the university, rather less under the market arcades.
April to June and September to October. Summer heat on the Venetian plain is heavy, and Scrovegni Chapel slots sell out faster in high season. Spring gives the market squares their liveliest character.
