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PADOVA

 Legend has it that Antenores, having fled from the destruction of Troy, was the founder of Padova (in 1185 B.C.).(In the picture beside: Pietro Chevalier, Antenor's Tomb, engraving,1858). Its real origin, however, go even further back. The city originated from a group of villages of Venetian fishermen who settled around the River Brenta (Medoacus). Patavium (its latin name) had to defendits independence from the repeated attacks by tribes of Gauls from the North. this persisted until they allied with the Romans, thus liberating themselves permanently from that danger, and also marking the beginning of their relationship with Rome. Thanks to their faith in Rome, in 45 B.C. Patavium became a Roman Municipium and was thus granted administrative autonomy. This period witnessed a substantial urban, economic and cultural development and the city assumed an aspect of its own: the arena, theatre and river port were built.

With the onslaught of Barbarians sacks and raids, Padova suffered the same fate as most of the other cities of the Empire. These raids came up to a head in 602 when the city was beseiged and destroyed by Agilulfo longobards. Due to the destruction of the town, we only had few remnants of the Roman era: the ruins of the great Amphitheatre, some bridges and the precious evidences which are still preserved at the Town Museum. (In the picture beside: Funerary stele in the form of a cippus with two lions cubs crouching on the pediment)

During the reign of Charlemagne, Padova began a slow recovery., due for the main part to the bishops. Indeed, after the last invasion (by the Hungarians), their power had grown to vast proportions and continued to increase during the Otto period. In 1163 Padova became a free Guelph Commune and was amongst the cities who contributed to the fall of Red beard. During the two following centuries the city developed rapidly and with the Seigneury of the Da Carrara family (1338 - 1405) Padova reached the apex of its power and cultural vitality, witnessed by the presence in the city of Giotto, Guariento, Menabuoi, Dante, Petrarca and numerous other scholars attracted by the University. (In the picture beside: Giusto de' Menabuoi, Virgin and Child)

Padova's increase in power and the territorial ambitions of the Da Carraras led the city into conflict with Venice. In 1405 the city was conquered by the Venetians who followed their fate in peaceful, unperturbed dominion, until 1797. This peace was broken only in 1509 with the siege of Padova by Maximilian (from which resulted the construction of 10 km long renaissance city wall). The raid ended in a Paduan victory . Venice left the city the privilege of a University , thanks to which was created a climate of cultural and scientific vivacity (Galilei, amongst other, teaches here), unrestricted by the church.

The Renaissance was of vital importance to Padova. Indeed, Donatello and Mantegna worked here and renewed Italian artistic tradition. In the 16th century illustrious personages such as Falconetto, Ruzzante and Palladio (born here in 1508), were present in the city, gathered together in the famous cultural circle founded by the Cornaro family. Palazzo del Bo, the loggias of the Piazza dei Signori, of the Duomo and the Basilica di St. Giustina were built. The University witnessed a period of great glory: the Orto Botanico (amongst the first in the world) and the first permanent Anatomic Theatre were established. Among those who taught here during the 16th century were Galileo and Giovanni Battista Morgagni, father of pathological anatomy. (In the picture: Seal of the City of Padova in B. Scardeone, De antiquitate urbis Patavii,1560).

In the 18th century, following the reclaiming of the marshy regions, Prato della Valle was established, and while Venice faced decline, Padova thanks to its University, acquired a new cultural dimension. 1797 marked the fall of the Serenissima Republic and Padova, then occupied by Napoleon, was handed over the Austrians on January 20, 1798 (treaty of Campoformido), becoming part of the province of Lombardo-Veneto: a domination that was to last over half a century. The 8 February marked the date of the student uprising against the Hapsburgs, violent traces of which remains in the salons of the Great Caffè Pedrocchi. On June 13, however, the Austrian troops returned. At the end of the Third War of Independence (1866), Padova was annexed to the kingdom of Italy.

During the First World War, Padova played an important role given its position. After the retreat of Caporetto, Padova was headquarters of higher italian and allied command. The city was hevaily bonded and it was here that the Armistice was signed (in Villa Giusti).In the second World War Padova distinguished itself in the fight again fascism; indeeed, Concetto Marchesi, the University Chancellor, occupies an important plays in the history of the Liberation.The years between 1945 to present witnessed the continuous industrial, commercial and tertiary development of the city: a development which has made the city into the most important economic centre of the Veneto and certainly the major managerial pole of North East Italy.

In spite of the destructions due to wars and of some disrespectful of the environmental goods interventions, Padova conserves almost uninjured its unique urban structure: a tangle of narrow streets with arcades and of monumental squares, of humble houses and of imposing buildings. This compact organism guards wonderful treasures. to the clever visitor the task to discover them.