Attractions and Places To See around Polverara - Top 20

Piazza dei Signori, Padua For the people of Padua, a stroll to the squares of the historic center, such as Piazza della Frutta, Piazza delle Erbe, and Piazza dei Signori, means immersing oneself in the markets that traditionally enliven the city every morning. Shopping is simultaneously a pleasure, a social occasion, a kind of daily ritual. But it's also worthwhile to look up and admire the architecture of the houses, balconies, and historic buildings that frame them. Piazza dei Signori is surrounded on its two main sides by two wings with colonnades, elegantly enhanced by terraces with antique wrought-iron balconies. The two shorter sides are bordered by the Church of San Clemente and the Palazzo del Capitanio with its clock tower, whose colonnade leads to the Corte Capitaniato and the nearby square of the same name. Here once stood the Castello dei Carraresi, which today houses the University of Padua with its Faculty of Literature and Philosophy and the rooms painted by Altichiero. On the south side of the square stands the elegant Loggia del Consiglio, or Gran Guardia, the 16th-century building where the city's Maggior Consiglio (Great Council) used to meet. The wide staircase leading to the loggia and the council chamber on the main floor are particularly worth seeing. Text / Source: Turismo Padova https://www.turismopadova.it/de/orte/piazza-dei-signori/

Prato della Valle, Padua The Prato della Valle, one of Padua's landmarks, is a large, monumental space distinguished by a central green island, Isola Memmia, named in honor of the city's governor who commissioned its creation. This island is surrounded by a canal adorned with a double pedestal featuring numbered statues of famous figures from the past. Since antiquity, this public space has served both economic and recreational functions. In Roman times, a large theater, the Zairo, stood here; remains of the theater's foundations have been found in the canal surrounding Isola Memmia, along with a circular racecourse for chariots. During the Middle Ages, fairs, tournaments, festivals, and competitions were held here; it was the site of large gatherings of "all the free men of Padua," and as early as 1077, it was a marketplace. Until 1767, it belonged to the Abbey of Santa Giustina. Then, the Senate of Veneto declared it municipal land and, together with Andrea Memmo, Provveditore della Serenissima (Governor of the Venetian Republic), implemented a radical redevelopment project. The aim was to create a new urban commercial center, a space suitable for fairs and events. Later, pavilions were erected on Isola Memmia to establish a market. Subsequently, trees were planted, giving the square a distinctly English feel, while the surrounding buildings made it unique, original, and memorable. The design is inspired by the great Venetian tradition of the patrician garden, which here, for the first time, is taken out of private use and proposed according to neoclassical concepts as an urban planning solution and ecological enhancement. Text / Source: Turismo Padova https://www.turismopadova.it/de/orte/prato-della-valle/

Villa Pisani is the most famous of the "Venetian Villas" along the Riviera del Brenta. The visit to this Museum requires the payment of a ticket of 12 euros. To visit the rooms and the garden you need at least an hour. Bicycles can be left in the rack outside. It is a magnificent place where numerous heads of state have stayed and whose rooms exude history. The Villa preserves furnishings and paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries. For information on opening hours and exhibitions https://www.villapisani.beniculturali.it/

Piazza dei Signori; a large square with the Palazzo del Capitano (from the 14th-16th centuries), where the Venetian governors resided and the watch tower with arcade and the elegant Loggia del Consiglio in Renaissance style. The clock still works on the almost 600 year old mechanism. Entrance is free, groups of maximum 10 people (guided tours only in the morning on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).

Prato della Valle is one of the largest squares in Europe dating from the 17th century. It is the green heart of the city, a welcoming meeting place. The oval-shaped square, planted with plane trees, is surrounded by a tranquil waterway flanked by statues of famous figures.

After the restoration work, which allowed the reopening of the tower in Piazza dei Signori in June 2010, the Astrarium clock, made in 1344 by Jacopo Dondi da Chioggia, is back in use in Padua. In 1437, the Astrario clock was faithfully reconstructed by the clockmakers Matteo Novello, Giovanni and Giampietro dalle Caldiere. The clock represents the Ptolemaic astronomical theory of a geocentric system that placed the Earth at the centre of the universe. The tower, 30 m high from the street level, has 5 internal floors, the first 3 of which were intended to house the parts of the clock mechanism, the other 2 formed the residence of the master clockmaker, custodian and maintainer. The cage clock is equipped with 2 "trains": the time train and the bell sound train. The dial has a round shape: the numbering of the hours is engraved on the external band with Roman characters, the internal band, made of lead plates, shows the copper stars. The third band, however, contains the zodiac symbols in relief. In the center is planet Earth. The lance that indicates the hours with the sun is at the base, while the moon appears in a round window. All the zodiac signs, except that of Libra which is missing, are finished with pure gold leaf. Source: https://www.padovanet.it/informazione/orologio-astrario-di-piazza-dei-signori

Since ancient times, this open space has had an economic and recreational function. In Roman times it was the site of a huge theater, the Zairo, the foundations of which were found in the canal around the island of Memmia, and of a horse racing circus. In the era of the persecution of the first Christians, the circus was used for fighting. Two of the city's four patron saints, Santa Giustina and San Daniele, were martyred here. In the Middle Ages it was instead the site of fairs, jousts, public festivals and competitions, such as the "sedoli" races, a kind of typical Paduan chariot or the "castello d'amore", which ended with the capture of beautiful maidens to marry some of the young men who came from all over the Veneto. Source: https://www.padovanet.it/informazione/prato-della-valle

Prato della Valle, one of the symbols of Padua, is a large elliptical square that is not only the largest square in Padua, but also one of the largest in Europe (88620 m2), after Red Square in Moscow. The square is actually a large monumental space characterized by a central green island, called Isola Memmia, in honor of the podestà that commissioned the works, surrounded by a moat decorated with a double base of numbered statues of famous figures from the past that according to the original plan there would be 88. However, today we can only observe 78 statues with 8 pedestals surmounted by obelisks and 2 empty ones. Four avenues cross the Prato via small bridges and then converge in the center of the islet. The arrangement is inspired by the great Venetian tradition of the patrician garden; here, for the first time, this was withdrawn from private use and, according to neoclassical concepts, proposed as an urban planning solution and environmental qualification. Source: https://www.padovanet.it/informazione/prato-della-valle