Interrail 2018: An Afternoon in Padua

Padua is a beautiful city in the north of Italy. If you believe the claims, Padua may well be the oldest city in northern Italy, as it is rumoured that the Trojans founded the city in the 12^th century. Whether or not this is true, Padua has plenty of history to keep its visitors interested including its famous university (rivalling Oxford and Cambridge as one of Europe’s oldest), the 13^th century Basilica di Sant’Antonio and Scrovegni Chapel, with Giotto’s famed 14th century frescos.

The city is also well situated to use as a base to explore the surrounding areas including Venice, Verona and Lake Garda. On our trip around Italy last summer, we used Padua as a 3 day base to travel out to Venice and Trieste, but before that fun began, we spent an afternoon in Padua. Read on to find out what we got up to!

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We were up just as dawn broke in Vienna and after a quick trip across the city by taxi to the Hauptbahnhof and a delicious fresh pastry in one of the station’s cafes, we were ready to board our train out of Austria and across the border into bella Italia.

The journey from Vienna to Padua was a long one aboard the Railjet train – roughly 7 and a half hour from start to finish. The route took us in a south westerly direction to Villach and then on to the border crossing at Tarvisio Boscoverde before calling at Udine and Treviso en-route to Venice. Eventually we stepped down from the train and onto the platform at Venezia Mestre just after 2.00pm and made our connection onwards to Padua, our chosen city for the next few days and an ideal base from which to explore Venice (only a 30-minute ride away) and its surroundings. The trip to Padua was just 15 minutes and with the aid of a taxi we were at the hotel, the NH Padova, by 3 o’clock!

We were soon on the road again, this time with the intention of exploring Padua and eventually finding somewhere to have an evening meal. We began by walking down the Via Venezia towards the Piovego canal and the Porta Ognissanti (or Portello) – one of the remaining medieval gateways of the city – and after a photo or two continued along the via del Portello to the via Giambattista Belzoni which we hoped would take us into the city centre.

After about 10-minutes of walking we caught sight of Porta Altinate in the distance, which indicated the entrance to the historic centre, frequented by locals, students and of course the ever-inquisitive tourists. Our first stop was at the Piazza Garibaldi with its statue of the ‘Madonna dei Noli’ perched high above the square on its column, and then it was along the via Cavour as far as the Piazzetta Cappellato Pedrocchi where we were faced with the north loggias of the Caffé Pedrocchi, one of the leading European Cafés. The mix of architectural styles, the Doric columns and the four lions all attract attention from the passer-by and suggest an earlier era when it embraced both the cultural and commercial worlds and became a meeting place for students, artists and writers, such as Stendhal and Lord Byron, as well as being the scene of the student uprising in 1848 against the Austro-Hungarian rulers of the day.

Although tempted, we continued our walk to the south loggias of the Caffé, even more interesting architecturally, flanked by the neo-Gothic ‘Pedrocchino’. Nearby were the imposing structures of the Town Hall and Municipal Offices as well as 15^th century Bo Palace, home to the University of Padua since 1493. The courtyard of the Bo Palace was full of surprises as the gallery was decorated with numerous (nearly 3000) coats of arms, representing former teachers and students and their attachment to the university. Very impressive!

Behind the Municipal Offices were Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Frutti which together had, for centuries, formed the commercial centre of Padua, and at the centre the magnificent Palazzo della Ragione. Originally serving the community as a courthouse, Palazzo della Ragione is now better known as the focus for daily market activity, with traders of all sorts plying their trade. This huge market is apparently one of the biggest in northern Italy.

As we emerged from the picturesque Piazzas, we decided it was about time to sit down and enjoy a pre-dinner drink. As we turned into via Roma we spotted the Caffé Veneto, a small independent café with character, sat down and spent a good half an hour relaxing and watching the world go by.

Once our glasses were empty we were ready to move again and so we set off, continuing our walk along the via Roma. Along the way we came upon the 14th century Church of the Nativity of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or Santa Maris dei Servei), built in the Gothic style with its pilasters and arches was set back from the street with a substantial arcade supported in part by 10 octagonal columns. The entrance, somewhat hidden in the shade of the arcade, was framed by white and pink marble blocks hinting at the treasures to be found inside.

More colonnaded arcades, lining both sides of the street, brought us to the Galleria Tito Livio which allowed us to cut through onto the Riviera Tito Livio, and then down to the Riviera Ruzante – a route we knew well from a previous visit. It made for a very pleasant walk as, running parallel to the road was the Canale Santa Chiara and, to the right, the campanile of the Church of St Daniel. A 10-minute walk brought us to the via Beato Luca Belludi where caught our first glimpse of The Basilica of St Anthony at the end of the street. The Romanesque façade was neatly framed by the two sides of the street, with their now familiar colonnaded arcades. As we walked towards the Piazza del Santo the full impact of the basilica became apparent. Architecturally it was a mix of Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine with the two twin bell-towers resembling Arab minarets. This was a site of pilgrimage in its own right and one of only eight international shrines recognized by the Holy See.

Time was getting on and stomachs were beginning to rumble – it had been a long time since our breakfast in Vienna – so next stop was the Ristorante Sant’ Antonio on the corner of via del Santo. (This had been our local restaurant on our previous visit.) The menu offered us all choice and satisfied our hunger and gave us another opportunity to reflect on our day and the lovely sights we had seen.

After dinner we walked across the square to the Beato Luca Belludi and from there strolled its length to the Prato della Valle. As the ‘square’ opens up before your eyes it is impossible not to be impressed. Covering 90,000 m² it is the biggest square in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. Its shape is elliptical and at its centre is a green island, l’Isola Memmia. The island is surrounded by water and has around its perimeter two rings of statues, 78 in total. Obviously a popular place for an evening stroll or to sit and reflect on the day, there were plenty of locals and tourists making the most of the stunning sunset. As we made our circuit around the square we were impressed by the towering architecture that surrounded us, with each building leaving its own unique mark on the landscape. These included the Basilica of Santa Giustina and the attached Benedictine abbey, the Palazzo Angeli, now the museum of pre-cinema, the neo-Gothic Loggia Amulea and other interesting palazzi from earlier centuries.

With the shadows beginning to lengthen and as the sky turned a lighter blue with streaks of pink, we decided it was time to say goodnight to Padua and to return to our hotel. All that was left was to catch the bus back to the station and from there find a connection that would take us back to the hotel. This was accomplished without too much trouble and within half an hour we were back where we had started, tired out and ready for bed, but with the impression that we had only scratched the surface of what this beautiful old city had to offer and that it deserved yet another visit, at some point in the future, to uncover more of its secrets.

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I hope you enjoyed my post on how we spent an afternoon in Padua. The city had shown us so many interesting sights, hidden gems such as the Bo Palace, green and open spaces including the vast Prato della Valle, statuary, churches and an apparent buzz of activity. From just two short visits, Padua has launched itself into my top 5 Italian cities and is somewhere that I will certainly return to again in the future. Until next time, V x