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Route length 1 day

A walled city steeped in history

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The experience

Vi invitiamo a visitare Cittadella, una splendida città murata di origine medioevale che si trova a pochi chilometri da importanti centri artistici quali Padova, Vicenza, Treviso, e inserita nell’ampio contesto storico di altre città murate del Veneto quali Bassano del Grappa, Marostica, Asolo, Castelfranco Veneto.

La fondazione della cittadina risale al 1220, quando il comune di Padova decide di creare ex novo nel settore centrale della pianura veneta un luogo fortificato per tutelare le zone di confine del suo contado contro le città di Treviso e Vicenza, oltre che per controllare i signorotti locali e per avviare una politica di colonizzazione agraria. Il nuovo insediamento sorge però in una zona frequentata sin dall’antichità: se da un lato sono quasi assenti materiali paleoveneti, è invece comprovata la presenza romana già a partire dal II sec. a.C.: nel 148 a.C. viene realizzata la Postumia, arteria viaria che attraversa tutto il Nord Italia collegando Genova ad Aquileia.Al termine della dominazione romana il territorio è probabilmente sotto il controllo dei Longobardi, anche se scarsissime sono le fonti altomedioevali; molto probabilmente si ha un generale spopolamento e inselvatichimento dell’ambiente, mentre si sviluppano poteri feudali attorno a piccoli centri quali Onara, Fontaniva, Tombolo, Galliera.

Tra il XII – XIII sec. la Repubblica comunale padovana dà inizio ad una vigorosa spinta espansionistica che la vede scontrarsi con i vicini comuni di Treviso e Vicenza; la zona del medio Brenta diventa così teatro di scontro e la fondazione di Cittadella si inserisce in questo contesto. Cittadella subisce tra il 1237 e il 1256 la terribile dominazione del signorotto locale Ezzelino III da Romano, che nel 1251 fa costruire la Torre di Malta come orrida prigione per i suoi nemici. Nel corso del ‘300 e del ‘400 la cittadina torna sotto il controllo dei Carraresi di Padova, diventando un vero capoluogo del territorio padovano. Nel 1406 Cittadella, come tutto l’entroterra veneto, passa sotto il controllo di Venezia, che invia i suoi podestà incontrando la sorda opposizione della popolazione locale. La Serenissima domina su queste terre fino al 1797, quando Napoleone con la Campagna d’Italia conquista tutto il settentrione. Dopo il trattato di Vienna (1815) il Veneto passa sotto il controllo degli austriaci fino ad entrare nel 1866 nel Regno d’Italia. Oggi Cittadella è un comune della provincia di Padova che conta più di 20.000 abitanti e si estende su un territorio pari a 36 km2.

Shortly

Tour

The Citadel Walls and the Patrol Walkway

Cittadella is the only city in Europe to have a medieval walkway, elliptical in shape and completely passable. You can climb above the Walls to a height of 15 meters while admiring a unique panorama.
The walls of Cittadella are one of the few examples of a defensive system with a Patrol Walkway that is still passable, perfectly preserved over time and still intact to this day. It is therefore one of the most beautiful defensive systems in Europe. The Patrol Walkway It is a 15-meter walk and it was the ancient guard walkway that was used to defend the city from above in case of enemy attacks. The recent restoration has made it possible to secure the ancient Patrol Walkway, to allow visitors to admire the city from new and privileged points of view, a truly unique experience.
The tour route is almost two kilometers long and along the way you can visit the re-enactment rooms and medieval set-up in the Captain’s House. In addition, inside the Tower of Malta you can visit the almost thirty-meter-high Belvedere, the Siege Museum and the Civic Archaeological Museum. From above, the landscape sweeps over the surrounding countryside: you can admire the Euganean Hills, the Berici Mountains, the Pedemontana with the walled cities of Marostica and Asolo, Monte Grappa. The entrance to the walkway is at Porta Bassano at the Casa del Capitano, at the IAT Tourist Office.

 

ADDRESS: Porte Bassanesi, 2 – 35013 Cittadella (PD)

USEFUL LINKS : muradicittadella.it

Duomo Museum

 

There is an Art Gallery, including the grandiose “Supper at Emmaus”, a Renaissance masterpiece by Jacopo Bassano. Inside there are works of different nature, painting, sculpture and applied arts from different historical periods, starting from the fourteenth century.
Visit a place rich in works of art The city’s cathedral presents a truly unique museum of sacred art, which brings together prestigious works created in different
epochs of its history. It is a rich and heterogeneous heritage of sacred objects for liturgical use, such as altar apparatus and goldsmiths but also paintings, statues and inscriptions.

 

 

ADDRESS: Via Marconi 5 – 35013 Cittadella (PD)

USEFUL LINKS: duomocittadella.it

Praetorian Palace

It was the seat of the Podestà at the time of the Serenissima Republic of Venice. Inside there are frescoes of fake tapestry with vertical bands, polychrome friezes, roundels and medallions with portraits of illustrious personalities of the past, as well as the ancient prisons of the Magistrate’s Court. Immerse yourself in the Renaissance era of Cittadella The large building located on the street front near Porta Treviso and was the seat of the podestà sent first by the Municipality of Padua and then by the Serenissima.
The interior is striking for its faux upholstery decoration with vertical bands, polychrome friezes, roundels and medallions. Also interesting is the entrance portal in pink marble, characterized by a relief with the Lion of St. Mark and two medallions with the effigies of Pandolfo Malatesta and his brother Carlo, who were lords of Cittadella. The building, recently restored, is now the headquarters of the Fondazione Pretorio Onlus, which organizes national exhibitions

.

 

ADDRESS: Via Guglielmo Marconi 30 – 35013 Cittadella (PD)

USEFUL LINKS: fondazionepretorio.it

Social Theatre

The elegant neoclassical façade is attributed to Giuseppe Jappelli, author of the famous Caffè Pedrocchi in Padua. The splendid frescoes in the room were created by Francesco Bagnara, the same artist who decorated the “La Fenice” Theater in Venice. Admire the hidden “Jewel” of Cittadella The Theater stands on the street front towards Porta Vicenza, in Via Indipendenza. Designed by Giacomo Bauto in 1817, it was completed by Francesco Cibele, while the elegant neoclassical façade is attributed to Giuseppe Jappelli, author of the famous Caffè Pedrocchi in Padua. The theater is structured with an atrium, a semicircular hall with a stage, three tiers of boxes, a former smoke room. The splendid frescoes in the room depict flowers, cupids and allegorical images and were created by Francesco Bagnara, set designer and painter, who is also credited with the decoration of the La Fenice Theater in Venice.

 

ADDRESS: Via Indipendenza 19 – 35013 Cittadella (PD)

USEFUL LINKS : procittadella.it

Oratory of the Savior

From the late seventeenth century, it houses works attributed to important international artists such as the frescoes of the French painter Louis Dorigny, and the marble busts of the Flemish Giusto Le Court. Enter this “Treasure Chest” of great value+ Overlooking the street, just outside the circle of the Walls, is the complex of Villa Nave Querini known as “Ca’ Nave” and Oratory of the Savior. Shortly after obtaining the noble title, Bernardo Nave, illustrious representative of the
A family that owned a manor house there, decided to renovate it and build a mausoleum chapel, which was built by 1689, on the site of an ancient xenodochio dedicated to San Lazzaro. The quality of the design, truly unusual for a chapel attached to a villa, led to the name of the architect Antonio Gaspari; Even the decorative solution, which transforms the interior space almost into a theater hall, is of the same quality: in fact, it can be considered one of the most
more homogeneous and precious examples of pictorial and sculptural decoration of the late seventeenth century.

 

ADDRESS: Borgo Padova – 35013 Cittadella (PD)

USEFUL LINKS :visitcittadella.it

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