Guide for Padova Centre1

8/17/2019 Guide for Padova Centre1

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Guide for the centre of Padova

PALAZZO BO – TOMBA DI ANTENORE – CAFFÉ PEDROCCHI – PALAZZODELLA RAGIONE – PIAZZA DELLE ERBE – PIAZZA DELLA FRUTTA – PIAZZA

DEI SIGNORI

Figure 1 – Palazzo della RagioneSource: wikipedia.org

IntroductionThe Mini Tour provides a pleasant way to discover both the most beautiful part of thecity and the most important historical buildings of Padova.The tour starts with a visit to Palazzo Bo, the famous seat of the University whichdates back to the 16th century. Here you will visit among the others the Aula Magna(Great Hall), where Galileo Galilei and other eminent professors taught, Sala deiQuaranta (Hall of the Fourty), where Galileo’s desk is conserved, and the TeatroAnatomico, which is the world’s first permanent anatomy theatre, built in 1592.The tour will subsequently lead you to the Tomb of Antenor, the legendary Trojanhero who is supposed to be the founder of the city of Padova. After that you will visitCaffè Pedrocchi (Pedrocchi Cafè), the most charming Paduan Cafè, which was thecentre of the Paduan riot in 1848.Then you will move to Palazzo della Ragione (Palace of Reason), which is the ancient

seat of the law courts, hosting a wonderful 15th century astrological cycle of frescoes.The last tour stage will include a visit to the most beautiful squares that make Padovagreatly attractive, i.e. Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza dei Frutti and Piazza dei Signori.


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Palazzo Bo (Bo Palace)The “Bo” – the name used to indicatenot only the palace occupied by the

University of Padova’ s centralgovernment, but also the Universityas a whole and an institution – is theVeneto form of the Latin expressionHospitium Bovis which, together withan ox’s head, appeared on the sign ofa famous Paduan inn that wasacquired by the University at the endof the 15th century.The conversion work began in 1493and was completed at the end of the

17th century. A new series ofrenovation and construction workstook place in 1889. The completion ofthe architectural arrangement dates from 1938-1942, under the architect EttoreFagiuoli from Verona, while the architectural solutions for the interior were handled bythe architect Gio Ponti from Milan.

The ancient courtyard, one of the most beautifulRenaissance buildings is a work by Andrea Moroni(1546 – 1587), the most important architect towork in Padova in the mid-16th century. It issurrounded by a double loggia with two rows ofcolumns, Doric in the lower order and Ionic in theupper one. The walls and vaults of the portico areentirely decorated with the coats of arms of therectors and councilors who ran the University from1592 to 1688.At the foot of one of the staircases leading to theloggias, there is a statue representing ElenaLucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, the first woman in theworld to be awarded a degree (1678), graduatingfrom the University of Padova. The Loggia leads toSala dei Quaranta (Hall of the Fourty); to the rightof the entrance is the cathedra which, according tothe tradition, was prepared so that Galileo couldteach in the scuola grande dei legisti (now the Great hall), since the other halls couldnot contain the enormous crowd that flocked to his lessons. Above the cathedrastands the bust of the scientist.

On the walls are portraits of forty great foreign scholars of the University of Padova,coming from all over Europe. The paintings were distempered by Giacomo dal Forno in1942. Among so many scholars, three are particularly worthy of note:

- Michel de l’Hospital , of France (1504 – 1586), collaborator to Catherine deMedicis and French Chancellor;

- Thomas Linacre, of England (1460 – 1524), physician and humanist, firstpresident of the Royal College of Physicians in London, he taught Greek atOxford and was personal physician to Henry VIII.

Figure 2 – The Old CourtyardSource: www.unipd.it

Figure 3 – Sala dei QuarantaSource: www.unipd.it


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- William Harvey , of England (1578 – 1657), in Padova he became interested inthe problem of the circulation of blood and he is considered the founder of theEnglish medical school.

From here it is possible to reach the Aula Magna “Galileo Galilei”(Great Hall “Galileo

Galilei”), which was occupied from the 16th to the 18th century by the Scuola grandedei legisti and was used for lectures. As already mentioned, Galileo also taught hereand the hall is dedicated to his name. In the first half of the 19th century it was usedas a room for drawing classes. For its conversion into the Great Hall it was restored(1854-1856) and decorated with the frescoes on the ceiling “Knowledge and theDisciplines” by the painter Giulio Carlini. The coats of arms are all original. The endwall, where the members of the Academic Senate sit during the most importantceremonies was restored in 1942 by Gio Ponti. It bears the ancient University motto:UNIVERSA UNIVERSIS PATAVINA LIBERTAS.On the opposite corner of the upper loggia is the Aula della Facoltà di Medicina (Hall ofthe Faculty of Medicine), one of the most ancient rooms of the building, that has

became famous during the history of the University. Characterized by the typicalmedieval ceiling and frieze, on its walls hang portraits of illustrious anatomists such asMorgagni, Vesalio, Eustachio and Falloppio. In a display are also exhibited some skullsbelonging to 19th century professors who decided to donate their body after death toscience research.

Next to the Hall of the Faculty ofMedicine is the Teatro Anatomico(Anatomical Theatre), built in1594 by the famous anatomyprofessor Gerolamo Fabricid’Acquapendente. The firstpermanent anatomy theatre inthe world, it is nonetheless stillperfectly preserved. It is awooden construction in a funnel-like shape, with an oval base andsix concentric orders of stepsrising around the anatomicaltable. The balustrades are madeof engraved walnut. Theoriginally blank windows wereonly opened in 1844 and theanatomy lesson used to be heldunder torch-light. Legend has it

that when corpses had been dissected, they were thrown into the river flowing underthe building by opening the planks which formed the bench. The theatre was used forlectures up until 1872; it was somewhat altered in 1842-44 and completely restoredin 1991-92.At the top of the Anatomical Theatre stands a monument to G. Battista Morgagni, whotaught at the University of Padova for more than fifty years (1715 – 1771) and isconsidered to be the father of modern anatomy and pathology.

Figure 4 – The 16th century Anatomy TheatreSource: katrinmed.wordpress.com


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Focus on: Famous Professors and Students at Padova UniversityIn its almost eight centuries of history, the University of Padova has hosted many importantpersonalities of the academic world, both Professors and Students, which contributed significantlyto develop culture, art and science.The first, in chronological order, is Alberto Magno (Magno = the Great) of Bollstädt (1206 -1280), bishop and saint, the greatest German theologian and philosopher of the Middle Ages and

teacher of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who studied at the University of Padova during his youth. Inaddition to him, the famous humanist and educator Vittorino da Feltre (1378 - 1446) and thephilosophers Nicholas of Cusa, known in Italy as Nicola Cusano, (1401 - 1464) and GiovanniPico della Mirandola (1463 - 1494) studied here.Leon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472), artist, architect and writer, was a young brilliant studentof humanities at our University. It’s interesting to remind that one of his works, Della famiglia(On the family), is a fictional dialogue set in Padova.Pietro Bembo (1470 - 1547), the most influential figure in the development of Italian language,studied and lived for many years in Padova.Torquato Tasso (1544 - 1595), best known for the epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata (JerusalemDelivered), studied here Law, Literature and Philosophy.The study of Astronomy largely expanded thanks to two “superstars”: Nicolaus Copernicus(1473 - 1543), who studied here and was the first to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric

cosmology, and Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), Professor of Geometry, Mechanics and Astronomyfrom 1592 to 1610 and still considered the Father of the modern scientific method.In the 16th - 18th centuries, the Medical School of Padova gained a considerable standing,starting from the studies of Girolamo Fracastoro (1478 - 1553), who understood that infectionsare driven by bacteria which multiply inside the body and can be transferred from one to another;he also published a medical poem, Syphilis sive morbus gallicus (On syphilis or French Disease),in which the name syphilis was first given to the disease. Andreas van Wesel, known in Italy asAndrea Vesalio (1514 - 1564), brilliant Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, is often referred toas the founder of modern human Anatomy: understanding the importance of corpse dissection,he was able to give the first accurate descriptions of significant part of the human body. GabrieleFalloppio (about 1523 - 1562), who studied for the first time in history the real structure of thefemale system (the fallopian tubes are named after him), of the oculomotor muscles (insidehuman eye) and of various parts of the human ear, was Professor of Anatomy, 4Surgery and Botany. His gifted pupil Girolamo Fabrici D’Acquapendente (about 1533 - 1619),who replaced him as a Professor after his death, donated his own money to build the famousAnatomy Theatre (opened in 1594), and made important studies about blood circulation,reviewed and developed by William Harvey (1578 - 1657) a few years later. Giovanni BattistaMorgagni (1682 - 1771), founder of the modern anatomo-pathology, was the first oneto observe the correspondence between illnesses and anatomical alterations,discovered through the autopsies. The ancient Pinali and the central University Libraries owna treasure of many ancient books of the famous Anatomical School, included the entire Morgagnilibrary.In the same years, the smart and spirit-free Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646 - 1684),was the first woman in the world to get a degree (in Philosophy, in 1678).Giuseppe Tartini (1692 - 1770), before becoming a famous violinist and composer,

studied Law to please his parents, and secretly married Elisabetta Premazone, a woman oflower social class and, according to some historians, Padova’s bishop nephew. For thisreason he soon had to escape to Rome, disguised as a pilgrim.Giacomo Casanova (1725 - 1798), the famous ladykiller and adventurer, mentioned inhis Memorie (Memoirs) that he graduated in Law from the University of Padova.Ugo Foscolo (1778 - 1827), a very famous poet in the history of Italian literature, was avery young student when he sent to his Professor Melchiorre Cesarotti (1730 - 1808),translator of Homer’s Iliad and of the so-called Poesie di Ossian (Ossian Poems), a copyof his first tragedy, Tieste, full of giacobines ideas hidden by classical references.Ippolito Nievo (1831 - 1861) and Niccolò Tommaseo (1802 - 1874), writers andpatriots, were both students of Law here.Recently the University of Padova has also hosted distinguished scholars, such as Vittore Branca(1913 - 2004), the discoverer of Giovanni Boccaccio’s autograph manuscript of the Decameron

(known as Code Hamilton 90), who was Professor of Italian Literature until his death, andtalented students such as the the physicist Eugenio Curiel (1912 - 1945), the poet AndreaZanzotto (1921) and the writer Boris Pahor (1913).


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Tomba di Antenore (Antenor’s Tomb)

According to a tradition recorded, among others, inVirgil’s Aeneid (I, 242,249), and in Livy’s Ab urbecondita, Padova was founded around 1183 BC by

the Trojan prince Antenor, who was supposed tohave led the people of Eneti or Veneti fromPaphlagonia (the northern part of today’s Turkey) toItaly, after the burning of Troy. The prince ispresented in Homer's Iliad (Book 11) in a positive(or at least neutral) light as one in favour ofreturning Helen to the Greeks for the good of Troy.On the contrary, in Dante’s Inferno (Canto 32), theninth circle of Hell (where traitors to their Homelandor their Party are punished) is named “ Antenora”after the Trojan prince because of some medieval

sources which describe him as a traitor who plotswith the Greeks to destroy the city.In 1274 a large sarcophagus, containing humanrests, a sword and some gold coins, was found bychance and digged out. The famous judge LovatoLovati, poet and pre-humanist, declared that it wasAntenor’s grave.

Thus, in 1283, it was stated to build a monument (a cuspidated brick ark) to host thesarcophagus. Lovati composed the inscription engraved on the stone, on the northern(first four verses) and the western sides:

Northern side:CUM QUATER ALMA DEI NATALIA VIDERAT HORRENSPOST DECIES OCTO MILLE DUCENTA CAPEREXTULIT HEC PADUE PRESES CUI NOMEN OLIVECOGNOMEN CIRCI PATRIA FLORIS ERAT. 5

As the Capricorn has seen four illustrious God’s Christmases, After one thousand, two hundreds and eighty years,Padova’s governor, whose name was Oliviero and surname Dei Cerchi, fromFlorence,erected this monument.

(to be continued on the Western side)PROTESTATE NOBILI VIRO DOMINOFANTONE DE RUBEIS DE FIORENTIAPERFECTUM FUIT HOC OPUS.Under the governor Fantone De Rubeis, from Florence,This work was completed.

Western side:INCLITUS ANT(H)ENOR PATRIAM VOX NISA QUIETEMTRANSTULIT HUC ENETUM DARDANIDUMQ(UE) FUGAS,

EXPULIT EUGANEOS, PATAVINA(M) (CON)DIDIT URBEM,QUEM TENET HIC UMILI MA(R)MORE CESA DOMUS.

Figure 5 – Antenor’s and Lovati’stombsSource: upload.wikimedia.org

Did you know…?It’s funny to know that,due to the image of awolf sculpted on theeastern side, Lovati’stomb has been believedfor centuries to beAntenor’s dog tomb!


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The glorious Anthenor, efforting voice to homeland peace Accompanied here the escape of Eneti and Dardanidi,Chased away the Euganei, founded the city of Padova.

A marble humble dwell holds him here.

The nearby Chiesa di San Lorenzo (Church of St. Lawrence), demolished in 1937,hosted Lovato Lovati’s sarcophagus after his death in 1309. After the demolition, in1942, Lovati’s tomb was placed next to Antenor’s.In 1985 the ark was re-opened and the human rests were subjected to scientificanalysis by Tuxon University (Arizona, USA): it revealed that the body belongs to a3rd - 4th century AD man, probably a warrior, killed by a hard knock on the head (hisskull has a big hole) and subsequently embalmed.

Caffè Pedrocchi (Pedrocchi Caffè)

T he Caffè Pedrocchi (Pedrocchi Café)

represents one of the most importanthistorical cafés and was built between 1831and 1836 by the famous architect GiuseppeJappelli in a mixture of neoclassical and neo-gothic styles.In 1816 Antonio Pedrocchi, son of a coffee-house keeper originally from Bergamo,bought a group of dilapidated old housesnorth of property he already owned. Hisintention was to enlarge a building south ofhis coffee house, making it into a Café. Thegreat Venetian architect Giuseppe Jappelliwas entrusted with the new building project,and work started in 1826 during which many important architectural fragments ofRoman age, which are now housed in the Musei Civici Eremitani (Eremitani CivicMuseums), came to light.

Since its opening the "café without doors"welcomed eminent guests such as the writerStendhal, who named its desserts as some ofthe best he ever tried, as well as studentswho always spent hours in the reading roomdiscussing all sorts of matters, sometimesproducing innovative ideas or planning therevolution, as they did in 1848 duringHapsburg domination. The style of the two

buildings with Doric loggias, united by a Corinthian loggia on the first floor, is acombination of neoclassical and neo-gothic styles. The monumental interior developsaround the Sala Rossa (Red Room), with a semi-circular niche at one end, subdividedinto three parts by Ionian columns and decorated with large paintings of geographicalmaps. Since its foundation students used to meet in the Sala Verde (Green Room),without having to buy any drink. On the other side of the Sala Rossa, symmetrical toSala Verde, is the Sala Bianca (White Room), where a bullet hole left by an Austrianrifle during the student riots of 1848 reminds of the atmosphere of the origins.

On the upper floor, where now the Museo del Risorgimento e dell’Età Contemporanea(Museum of the Risorgimento and Contemporary Age) is housed, rooms and halls aredecorated according to different themes.

Figure 6 – The back facade of Caffè PedrocchiSource: www.macrosystems.it

Did you know…?A very common superstition amongPaduan students, probablyreferring to the facts happened in1848, states that you mustn’t enterCaffè Pedrocchi before being

graduate, otherwise you won’t getyour degree.


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Palazzo della Ragione

T he Palazzo della Ragione (Palace ofReason), also called Salone (GreatHall), was built between 1218 and 1219in the political, economical and civicheart of the city, between Piazza delleErbe (Herbs Square) and Piazza dellaFrutta (Fruit Square) to accommodatethe law courts.The original palace, which partiallyreused the structures of an ancientRomanesque building, was divided intothree parts, separated by huge pillarscovered in leather: in the eastern partwas the Chapel of Saint Prosdocimus,the first bishop of Padova; in the centralpart the law courts and the financial offices had their seat, whereas the prisons wereset in the western part.

In the Chapel there was a copy of the Civic Statute, tied with an iron chain: it waswhere the judges swore their loyalty before entering the court. Lawsuits and conflictswere settled by a public court. All the citizens, both from the city and from thecountry, could apply to it, since it was open many hours a day. The most seriouscrimes were tried by foreign judges, so that impartiality could be guaranteed. The factthat each court had its own symbol (the animals in the lower part) allowed analphabetpeople, representing once the majority of the population, to find the right way easily.Palazzo della Ragione was enlarged between 1306 and 1309 by Fra’ Giovanni degliEremitani, who raised the walls, added the two external loggias and covered thewhole structure with an inverted ship-bottomed roof. The decoration of the walls wasassigned to Giotto, who carried it out between 1315 and 1317, but the frescoes weredestroyed by a fire in 1420 and were subsequently re-painted by Nicolò Miretto,Stefano da Ferrara and other artists.The cycle of 333 frescoes, inspired by the astronomical and astrological works byPietro d’Abano, can be divided into 12 compartments, starting from the south-eastcorner with the month of March (Aries) and ending at the end of the southern wall

with February (Pisces). Each compartment is structured according to the followingscheme:

Figure 7 – Sala RossaSource: Wikipedia

Figure 8 - Palazzo della RagioneSource: www.wikipedia.it


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Piazza delle Erbe (Herbs Square)

T he market in Piazza delleErbe, founded in the 12thcentury and still existing,

would sell wine, herbs, grainsand other goods consideredworthless: the two staircaseswhich leads to Palazzo dellaRagione (i.e. Palace of Reason,the big palace between Piazzadelle Erbe and Piazza dellaFrutta, built at the beginning ofthe 13th century to host thelaw courts) are called “del vin”(of the wine) and “dei ferri

lavorati ” (of the wrought iron)according to the kind ofproducts which used to be soldat their bottom. On this side -

the southern - of the Palace, the façade is decorated with a sundial. This used to bethe arrival of the Corsa del Palio, (Race of the Cloth) a race starting in Voltabarozzo, afew kilometres from the city centre: the winners were awarded a silk cloth (1stclassified), a goose (2nd classified) and an owl (3rd classified).

In 1734, the Venetian Republic instituted the public Lottery Game. By 1838, thenumbers were extracted from the balcony of the Palazzo della Ragione.On the East side of the square is the back façade of the Palazzo del Municipio(Municipal Building), which was the seat of Padova’s potestà (governor) until the endof the 18th century. The palace dates back to the 13th century, although it was re-edited by Andrea Moroni between 1539 and 1558. On its 16th century façade you canfind the engraving of the emblemi dei rettori (rectors’ emblems) and the Statua dellaGiustizia (Statue of Justice), a work of art by Tiziano Minio (1552). In the 20thcentury it was further enlarged (with the so called Moretti-Scarpari Wing) anddecorated with memorial inscriptions of the 1st World War. Among these, a marbleplan of Padova with the indication of the 912 bombs dropped on the city.

Piazza della Frutta (Fruits Square)

I t was once called “del Peronio”: the “ peronio” is the Romanesque column thatstands in the square, just in front of viaBreda. It comes from the Latin word “ peronem”, which means “boot”, becausethere used to be a shoe market nearby thecolumn. Its capital presents four reliefs: apumpkin, a palm tree, a pear tree and aquince tree. On the capital, a block ofIstria stone bares Padova’s coat of arms (across shield) and the image of Saint

Prosdocimus, first bishop of the city. Inthe square, on the 1st Thursday of May,the fraglia degli strazzaroli (corporation of

Figure 10 – Piazza delle Erbe by nightSource: campodarsego.blogolandia.it

Figure 11 – Piazza della FruttaSource: flickr.com


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Loggia), and on the East side the small Chiesa di S. Clemente (Church of SaintClement).

Palazzo del Capitanio wasonce the seat of the Capitanio,

one of the two Venetianrectors living permanently inPadova. In the middle of itsfaçade (1598-1605) standsthe Clock Tower. The clock,the first in Italy to showmonths, days, Moon phasesand position of the Sun in theZodiac besides hours, wascreated in 1437 by Giovannidelle Caldiere and is based on

a 1344 project by GiovanniDondi, nicknameddell’Orologio (of the clock).The Loggia del Consiglio, conceived to be the new seat of Council meetings after thedestruction of Palazzo della Ragione by a fire in 1420, was projected by AnnibaleMaggi in 1492 and accomplished by Giovanni Maria Falconetto (beginning from 1530).Inside the Loggia, the walls of Sala del Consiglio (Council’s Hall) are decorated with afresco paintings by Pier Antonio Torri (1667).

The small Church of Saint Clementdates back to 1190; its façade wasmodified during the 16th century,when the pseudo-pilasters were added,together with the statues of St.Clement, St. Justina and St. Daniel.The interior is a single nave with asquare apse and altar on both sides:two of them belonged to the ancientcorporations of oresi (jewellers) andcasoini (cheese and milk sellers). 11

Figure 13 – Piazza dei Signori and Palazzo del CapitanioSource: www.magicoveneto.it

Did you know…?

Among the signs of the zodiacrepresented on the Clock dial, the Libra ismissing. Instead of it, there are theScorpion’s pincers. The most commoninterpretation of the fact is that the artistwho made the paintings hadn’t been paidsuitably and therefore he erased theLibra, symbol of justice, or, according toother sources, the commissioner’s zodiacsign. However, this interpretation doesn’tseem to be confirmed by any historicaldocument. The Libra was probablyremoved on the occasion of a clockworkmodification by an enterprising person,

Abbot Bartolomeo Toffoli from Calalzo,who was mistakenly convinced thatEgyptian astronomy was based on elevensigns of the zodiac.


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Documents

Guide for Padova Centre1