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The city of Padua (Lat. Patavium, It. Padova) is the economic and communications hub of the Veneto region in northern Italy. The capital of Padova province, it stands on the Bacchiglione river , 40km west of Venice and 29km southeast of Vicenza, with a population of 211,985 ( 2004). It agricultural setting is the Pianura Padovana, the "Paduan plain," edged by the Euganaean Hills praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch and Ugo Foscolo. The city is picturesque, with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal piazze, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat.
Padua was where most of the action in Shakespeare's play, The Taming of the Shrew, took place.
The Palazzo della Ragione , with its great hall on the upper floor, is reputed to have the largest roof unsupported by columns in Europe; the hall is nearly rectangular, its length 815m, its breadth 27m, and its height 24m; the walls are covered with allegorical frescoes; the building stands upon arches, and the upper storey is surrounded by an open loggia, not unlike that which surrounds the basilica of Vicenza. The Palazzo was begun in 1172Events Duke Richard of Aquitaine becomes Duke of Poitiers. He later becomes King Richard I of England. Sebastian Ziani became the 37th Doge of Venice. The Synod of Cashel ended the Celtic Christian system and brought them under Rome. Cork city in Ireland and finished in 1219Events Saint Francis of Assisi introduces Catholicism into Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade Ongoing events Fifth Crusade ( 1217- 1221) Births Deaths Jayavarman VII, ruler of the Khmer Empire Minamoto no Sanetomo, third shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of J; in 1306Events March 25 Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland June 19 Forces of Earl of Pembroke defeat Bruce's Scottish rebels at the Battle of Methven Philip IV of France exiles all the Jews from France and confiscates their property In London, a city ordin Fra Giovanni , an Augustinian friar, covered the whole with one roof; originally there were three roofs, spanning the three chambers into which the hall was at first divided; the internal partition walls remained till the fire of 1420Events May 21 Treaty of Troyes. With the Burgundian faction dominant in France, King Charles VI of France acknowledges Henry V of England as his heir and as virtual ruler of most of France. May 25 Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of, when the Venetian architects who undertook the restoration removed them, throwing all three spaces into one and forming the present great hall, the Salone. The new space was refrescoed by Nicolo' Miretto and Stefano da Ferrara , working from 1425Events Foundation of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Births Deaths March 17 Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun July 21 Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor 1425. to 1440For alternative meanings, see number 1440. Events Itzcoatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan dies and is succeeded by Moctezuma I. End of term for Regent of Sweden Karl Knutsson Bonde. Births January 22 Ivan III, grand duke of Moscow (+ 1505) Deaths Itzcoatl,.
In the Piazza dei Signori is the beautiful loggia called the Gran Guardia , ( 1493Events January 4 Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey. March 15 Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas. July 28 Great fire in Moscow November 19 Christopher Columbus becomes the first Euro - 1526Events January 14 Treaty of Madrid. Peace between Francis I of France and Charles V. Francis agrees to cede Burgundy to Charles, and abandons all claims to Flanders, Artois, Naples, and Milan. May 22 Francis repudiates the Treaty of Madrid and forms the L), and close by is the Palazzo del Capitanio , the residence of the Venetian governors, with its great door, the work of Falconetto of Verona , 1532.
The most famous of the Paduan churches is the basilica dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, locally simply called "Il Santo." The bones of the saint rest in a chapel richly ornamented with carved marbles, the work of various artists, among them of Sansovino and Falconetto; the basilica was begun about the year 1230 and completed in the following century; tradition says that the building was designed by Nicola Pisano; it is covered by seven cupolas, two of them pyramidal. On the piazza in front of the church is Donatello's magnificent equestrian statue of "Gattamelata" ( Erasmo da Narni), the Venetian general ( 1438- 1441), which was cast in 1453, the first full-size equestrian bronze cast since antiquity.
The Eremitani is an Augustinian church of the 13th century, distinguished as containing the tombs of Jacopo ( 1324) and Ubertino ( 1345) da Carrara, lords of Padua, and for the chapel of SS James and Christopher, formerly illustrated by Mantegna's frescoes, largely destroyed in World War II. Now the disused church houses the municipal art gallery. Close by the Eremitani is the small church of the Annunziata, known as the Madonna dell'Arena , containing the Scrovegni chapel, whose inner walls are entirely covered with paintings by Giotto.
Padua has long been famous for its university, founded by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1238. Under the rule of Venice the university was governed by a board of three patricians, called the Riformatori dello Studio di Padova. The list of professors and alumni is long and illustrious, containing, among others, the names of Bembo, Sperone Speroni , the anatomist Vesalius, Acquapendente , Galileo Galilei, Pomponazzi , Pole, Scaliger, Tasso and Sobieski.
The place of Padua in the history of art is nearly as important as its place in the history of learning. The presence of the university attracted many distinguished artists, as Giotto, Fra Filippo Lippi and Donatello; and for native art there was the school of Francesco Squarcione ( 1394- 1474), whence issued the great Mantegna ( 1431- 1506).
The industry of Padua has greatly developed in modern times. Corn and saw mills, distilleries, chemical factories, breweries, candle-works, ink-works, foundries, agricultural machine and automobile works, have been established and are flourishing. The trade of the district has grown to such an extent that Padua has become the central market for the whole of Veneto.
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