Padua, which is only 12 km away from our hotel, is referred to as “Urbs picta” because it preserves a 14th-century painting cycle in its city center.
These frescoes are housed within buildings and monumental complexes in the historic center of Padua, in an area that in the 14th century corresponded to the entire inhabited surface within the walls.
The eight buildings are:
This is a complex of very famous monuments, preserved in a territory where the tradition of fresco mural painting has its roots since the 10th century, reaching its peak in the 14th century.
Giotto’s presence in the city around 1302 marked the beginning of an extraordinary season of culture and art that continued throughout the century, characterized by exceptionally valuable painting interventions.
Giotto, Guariento, Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Altichiero da Zevio, Jacopo Avanzi, and Jacopo da Verona are the protagonists of this undertaking.
Working for illustrious families, the clergy, the Municipality, and the Lordship of the Carraresi, they painted within religious and civil, public and private buildings, contributing to the creation of a new image of the city.
The frescoed cycles can be visited in the original buildings and monumental complexes.
They constitute a unitary system due to their common Giottoesque influence, although they are works executed by different hands, commissioned by different patrons, and within buildings of different nature.
However, each artist, in his own way, followed the language of the great master Giotto, thus adding value to the ensemble of all the works.
Thanks to this significant recognition, Padua now boasts two UNESCO sites: the painting cycle joins the Botanical Garden, which has been part of it since 1997.
