Where We are

We are based in Padua.

The province borders the provinces of Venice, Vicenza, Treviso, Rovigo and Verona.

The central position of the city with respect to the Triveneto, and the road junctions that branch off from here, allows us to easily reach any destination and consequently manage any service within this area.

THE TERRITORY

THE CITY

Padua is certainly the liveliest city in the north-east and offers the visitor a very important historical and artistic cultural heritage, and boasts two UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The Aeneid Virgil narrates the exploits of Antenore, a Trojan leader who escaped the devastation of his city, and who sailed for days motivated by the desire to found a new one. When he landed on the Venetian coasts, he set out to find the ideal place on which to lay the first stone of what is now the city of Padua.

Apart from the legend, numerous archaeological finds, and in-depth studies on the first Paleoveneti settlements, testify that it was founded even before Rome.

Furthermore, a recent joint study between the universities of Venice and Stanford shows that there were settlements on the lagoon archipelago that we now call Venice as early as the fourth century B.C. They were the work of the “Paduans” who created a stable outpost on the various islands between the mouth of the River Brenta, then the main communication route, and the sea.

However, a firm alliance with the Roman Empire began from the third century B.C. gradually consolidating until the city became a Municipium thanks also to a series of communication routes that had already made it possible to comfortably reach all the important centers of the time from Patavium. The first of which was the Via Annia between Adria and Aquileia and the via Aurelia; some of these routes are still viable today.

The barbarian invasions unfortunately wiped out many testimonies of the ancient glories and the city, suffering from anonymity almost folded in on itself until the thirteenth century when, becoming a free municipality, it saw the birth of the famous university (1222).

For almost a century, under the leadership of the Carraresi, the city flourished and became the “cradle of the arts” as it was later defined by W. Shakespeare. In fact, during this radiant period, the cycle of frescoes was created by Giotto, Mantegna, Giusto de Menabuoi, Altichieri da Zevio, Guariento, and others who have been part of the Unesco Heritage since 2021.

Then the desire for supremacy of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, triggered by the growing rise of the importance of Padua which would soon have tarnished its prestige, led to a very bloody conquest of the city, apparently perpetrated by deception, with the annihilation of the Carraresi and the collapse of what belonged to them or was commissioned by them and preventing the city from developing further. Nonetheless, the invaders contributed to the cultural and monumental enrichment of the city, above all thanks to the university, which attracted illustrious figures such as Galileo Galilei.

The famous Botanical Garden was also founded in 1545, which has also been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

Following the Napoleonic conquest and the cession to Austria, the city became part of the Lombard-Venetian Habsburg Kingdom, from which it rose on February 8, 1848.

After the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866 during the First World War, Padua became the headquarters of the Italian military forces and the events that occurred were always closely linked to the fate of the Great War. In 1918 Gabriele D’Annunzio organized and carried out the flight over Vienna based in a military airport south of Padua near a castle that has now become the “Air Museum”. On the afternoon of November 3, 1918 in the Villa Giusti in Padua, the armistice between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy was signed, effectively sanctioning the end of the world conflict.

During the Second World War as a road and railway junction, the city was bombed several times while remaining, again thanks to the university, a particularly active center of resistance.

The subsequent development up to the present day presents us with a very active and dynamic city with a long history that is proudly told, which shows off its monuments and its unique views, such as the large pedestrian area, the Listòn, the real city of cultural gathering.

 

Prato della Valle

THE PROVINCE

The province of Padua boasts a series of natural and artistic beauties and hides curiosities and anecdotes that are often not well known; pleasant places to visit, places steeped in history but above all a province to live, where you feel not as a passing guest, but as an integral part of everyday life.

The area has been inhabited since the second millennium B.C. by the Paleoveneti, an ethnic group of Indo-European origin of Greek and Etruscan inspiration that over the centuries experienced Egyptian and Celtic influences until the arrival of the Romans.

In fact, to the south of the city there is a place called “Mezzavia” whose name derives from its position which the Romans calculated halfway (half way) between Rome and Vienna.

It was therefore a resting and refreshment point that enjoyed the proximity of the Euganean hills, ancient extinct volcanoes at the base of which gushed (and which still flows today) particularly regenerating and curative thermal water so that in the current municipality of Montegrotto Terme a first thermal station was built whose remains are still visible today.

Over the centuries, the area has constantly been the scene of bloody battles, the cradle of noble families, a witness to a long series of historical, political and religious changes. Villages, castles, walled cities, villas and monasteries, which dot the territory, pass on its history.

Today the natural park of the Euganean Hills, unique for its biodiversity and as the production area of DOC wines and other typical products, is the setting for the Euganean Spas, a set of locations that are an international reference point for thermals and well-being. Further south, towns such as Monselice, Este and Montagnana, with their precious walls completely intact, in their beauty testify to part of the past vicissitudes of an area that has always been very coveted.

The northern part of the province is instead characterized by the presence of the River Brenta, which has profoundly marked its economy and socio-political changes.

Here marvelous Venetian villas, especially Villa Contarini, a majestic example of Palladian architecture immersed in a 40-hectare park, and Cittadella, an ancient walled city in which it is possible to walk the entire walkway between battlements and towers, leave room for natural oases, springs, floodplains and woods.

 

abazia benedettina di praglia

THE LAGOON

A part of the Venetian lagoon, in particular a natural oasis called “Valle Millecampi”, is also part of the Paduan territory.


Among lush paths that caress patches of typical vegetation where you can admire the famous “Venetian Casoni”, between natural oases where you can admire numerous animal species and beaches where you can practice kite-surfing all year round on particularly clear days, it is possible to admire the Euganean Hills towards the west, rising majestically from the uniformity of the plain.

 

Valle millecampi

THE BRENTA RIVIERA

In the ancient riverbed of the Brenta river, the stretch between Padua and Venice takes the name of “Riviera del Brenta” where, between 1500 and 1700, noble Venetian families commissioned famous architects of the time, one above all the Paduan Andrea Palladio, to construct the villas to be used as their summer residences.

The “battle” for image supremacy was fought with impressive facades, refined lines, artistic decorations, internal and external environments in harmony with the landscape and collections of more or less rich works of art.

The countless recommendations, three of which the tourist navigation on the “Burchiello” stand out, give the opportunity to perceive this landscape view, unique of its kind, which was once the scene of ancient splendor, among noble families and travellers, among the Burci, the barges for the transport of goods and the Burchielli, the ancient and sumptuous boats of the Venetians.

THE BRENTA RIVIERA