July 24, 2021, marks a historic date for Padua: it has been officially recognized as a city of art worldwide. It is the Padua of the new millennium: a "Wonderful" city of art perfectly inserted in the frame of Italian beauty, a "must-see place" to be photographed and "Instagrammed", a heritage to be shared with all humanity.
It was 1972 when UNESCO adopted the Convention on the World Heritage Site to protect the cultural and natural heritage of world importance and fame. These are places that must be preserved in excellent condition because they represent the major prooves of a particular historical and cultural moment, and their value must be passed on to future generations.
The candidacy was initially launched with the name of “Padova Urbs Picta”, which was later modified at the behest of Unesco in “The cycles of frescoes of the fourteenth century in Padua”. (More understandable than Latin for foreigners, especially English speakers).
For Unesco, the fourteenth-century fresco cycles of our city “testify to the cultural, intellectual and scientific fervour already at that time, when artists were able to innovate and mark a new era in the history of art, setting the pace for successive artists generations.”
The exceptional artistic and historical universal value of Padua Urbs picta was recognized with a set of masterpieces - 3694 linear meters of frescoes - created between 1305 and 1397. A revolution in the history of art marked by Giotto and the ranks of great masters -Giusto de 'Menabuoi, Altichiero da Zevio, Guariento (the only Paduan), Jacopo Avanzi, Jacopo da Verona- attracted by a city that managed to be the capital world art for an entire century, the '300.
Giotto has delivered to humanity an unprecedented masterpiece, anticipating, in a certain sense, the perspective -which will be the protagonist only during the Renaissance- and demonstrating a new ability to represent human figures, in all their characteristics, including feelings and emotions.
In the historic centre of Padua, there are 8 symbolic places -buildings and monumental complexes- which preserve within them the entire spectrum of the artists who have coloured the fourteenth-century Padua:
And we Paduans are the moral custodians of this exclusive treasure, jewels of the history of art, which the whole world envies us.
Padua has always been at the forefront as an incubator of art, knowledge and trial and error, the land of origin and adoption of artists, thinkers and men of genius. It has Excellence in its DNA. From Giotto onwards, Padua has always had a mission: to be the protagonist of its present and the architect of its future.
Tourism in Padua: what the city offer
Padua, as scientifically attested, is one of the oldest Italian cities. It is no coincidence that history and art are the masters but, in addition to the large number of sites that have become part of the Unesco Heritage, it offers many other reasons to worth a visit. The prestigious University, founded in 1222 and among the first in the world, also attracts thousands of people every year: the student community animates the city streets and feeds the nightlife, especially that of the historical centre, the Portello, an area full of activities.
To admire, in addition to the above mentioned Botanical Garden, the historic Palazzo Della Ragione that separates the markets of Piazza Dei Frutti and Piazza Delle Erbe. Or the Mercato sotto il Salone -literally the market under the Hall- the oldest covered market in Europe, a symbol of the city for more than eight centuries and a food and wine centre quite popular with consumers.
Other flagships are the Specola, built on the Torlonga of the Carrarese Castle, a medieval fortification destined to become a design museum, and the MUSME: the Museum of the History of Medicine that leaves its visitors speechless for its modernity and technology.
Opening hours
Mon-Fri: 9-13 | 14:30 to 19:00
Sat: by appointment
