Padua, Who Knew?

We continued our journey into Italy traveling to Padua (Padova in Italy), which is about a half hour west of Venice by train. We chose Padua as a next stop primarily because staying in Venice on the weekend was significantly more expensive, but we were pleasantly surprised with the city. It is a medieval town, surrounded by a river (a very small river) and old city walls in certain places. It is now a university town, so the place was buzzing with college kids and mopeds.

Our hotel was a bit outside the main part of the city. On our walk in, we passed by one of entrances into old city.

This is the Capella degli Scrovegni, built by Enrico Scrovegni, who was part of a wealthy local family. It is built next to a small Roman Arena (this picture is from inside the Arena) and there used to be a large residence attached to the chapel. Inside are floor to ceiling frescoes painted by Giotto, with 38 panels depicting the life of Christ, including an amazing Last Judgment scene (which was inspired by Dante; Hell is a scary place). No pictures allowed, and we had to acclimate in a room for 30 minutes before entering, so that they could control the environment for preservation reasons.

This is the Palazzo della Ragione, built in the 12^th Century, which now houses market stalls on the ground floor, and is an exhibition hall on the second. The second floor wall are intricately painted and has a huge exposed wood ceiling. On either side of the Palazzo are two squares that have markets everyday; one square is for produce and the other for clothing.

The church to the left is the Padua Cathedral and the structure connected to the right is the Baptistry. The Baptistry is intricately painted in the style of Giotto and the domed ceiling is decorated with many famous Christian saints.

This is the Astronomy Observatory that was used by the University to study the sky. Today it houses a library of astronomy books.

At another square in the city was this really nice clock tower. This city is full of squares and many of the streets are closed off to traffic making it very walkable.

In the southern part of the city is the Piazza of Prato della Valle, a circular man-made river lined with statues. In the background on the left is the St. Giustina Church, the interior pictured below.

This is the side view of the Basilica di Sant’ Antonio. Really wish that we could take pictures inside, so please click on the link that takes you to the Wikipedia page. Almost the entire church is decorated in frescoes, and some of the side chapels are incredible. It also houses the tomb of St. Anthony, which is a gaudy white marble that people line up to touch (he is the saint of lost things). There is another section full of St. Anthony relics, which include his tongue, lower jaw, and his voice box, encased in gold chalices and boxes with glass so you can see it (creepy).