Padua (/ˈpædjuə/PAD-ew-ə)[a] is a city andcomune (municipality) inVeneto, northernItaly, and the capital of theprovince of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the riverBacchiglione, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west ofVenice and 29 km (18 miles) southeast ofVicenza. With a population of 207,694 as of 2025, Padua is the third-largest city in Veneto.[2] It is also the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua is sometimes included, with Venice andTreviso, in thePadua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) which has a population of around 2,600,000.
Padua is home to one of theoldest universities in the world, theUniversity of Padua, founded in 1222 and where figures such asGalileo Galilei andNicolaus Copernicus taught or studied. In 1610, Galileo observed themoons of Jupiter through a homemade telescope in Padua, marking the second phase of theCopernican Revolution. Today, the university has around 72,000 students and has a profound impact on the city's recreational, artistic and economic activities.
The original significance of the Roman namePatavium (Venetian:Padoa) is uncertain. It may be connected withPadus, the ancient name of thePo River.[4] In addition, theIndo-European rootpat- may refer to a wide open plain as opposed to nearby hills. (In Latin this root is present in the wordpatera 'plate' and the verbpatere 'to open'.) The suffix-av (also found in names of rivers such asTimavus andTiliaventum) is likely of Venetic origin, precisely indicating the presence of a river, which in the case of Padua is the Brenta. The ending-ium signifies the presence of villages that have united themselves together.[citation needed] According to another theory,Patavium probably derives from Gaulishpadi 'pine', in reference to the pine forests thereabouts.[5]
Padua claims to be among the oldest cities in northern Italy. According to a tradition dated at least to the time ofVirgil'sAeneid and toLivy'sAb Urbe Condita, Padua was founded around 1183 BC by theTrojan princeAntenor.[6]
After theFall of Troy, Antenor led a group of Trojans and theirPaphlagonian allies, the Eneti orVeneti, who lost their kingPylaemenes to settle the Euganean plain in Italy. Thus, when a large ancient stone sarcophagus was exhumed in the year 1274, officials of themedieval commune declared the remains within to be those of Antenor. An inscription by the nativehumanist scholarLovato Lovati placed near the tomb reads:[7]
Inclitus Antenor patriam vox nisa quietem. Transtulit huc Enetum Dardaniumque fugas, Expulit Euganeos, Patavinam condidit urbem, Quem tenet hic humili marmore cesa domus
This sepulchre excavated from marble contains the body of the noble Antenor who left his country, guided the Eneti and Trojans, banished the Euganeans and founded Padua.[8]
However, more recent tests suggest the sepulcher dates back to between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Nevertheless, archeological remains confirm an early date for the foundation of the center of the town to between the 11th and 10th centuries B.C. By the 5th century BC, Padua, rose on the banks of the river Brenta, which in the Roman era was calledMedoacus Maior and probably until AD 589 followed the path of the present-day Bacchiglione (Retrone). Padua was one of the principal centers of theVeneti.[citation needed]
TheRoman historianLivy records an attempted invasion by the Spartan king Cleonimos around 302 BC. The Spartans came up the river but were defeated by the Veneti in a naval battle and gave up the idea of conquest. Still, later, the Veneti of Padua successfully repulsed invasions by theEtruscans andGauls. According to Livy andSilius Italicus, the Veneti, including those of Padua, formed an alliance with the Romans by 226 BC against their common enemies, first the Gauls and then the Carthaginians. Men from Padua fought and died beside the Romans atCannae.[citation needed]
With Rome's northwards expansion, Padua was gradually assimilated into theRoman Republic. In 175 BC, Padua requested the aid of Rome in putting down a local civil war. In 91 BC, Padua, along with other cities of the Veneti, fought with Rome against the rebels in theSocial War. Around 49 (or 45 or 43) BC, Padua was made a Romanmunicipium under theLex Julia Municipalis and its citizens ascribed to the Roman tribe,Fabia. At that time the population of the city was perhaps 40,000.[9] The city was reputed for its excellent breed of horses and the wool of its sheep. In fact, the poetMartial remarks on the thickness of the tunics made there.[10] By the end of the first century BC, Padua seems to have been the wealthiest city in Italy outside of Rome.[11] The city became so powerful that it was reportedly able to raise two hundred thousand fighting men. However, despite its wealth, the city was also renowned for its simple manners and strict morality. This concern with morality is reflected in Livy'sRoman History (XLIII.13.2) wherein he portrays Rome's rise to dominance as being founded upon her moral rectitude and discipline.[12] Still later, Pliny, referring to one of his Paduan protégés' Paduan grandmother, Sarrana Procula, lauds her as more upright and disciplined than any of her strict fellow citizens (Epist. i.xiv.6).[11] Padua also provided the Empire with notable intellectuals. NearbyAbano was the birthplace, and after many years spent in Rome, the death place of Livy, whose Latin was said by the critic Asinius Pollio to betray hisPatavinitas (q.v. Quintilian,Inst. Or. viii.i.3).[13]
Christianity was introduced in Padua and in most of the Veneto region bySaint Prosdocimus. He is venerated as the first bishop of the city. His deacon, the Jewish convertDaniel, is also a saintly patron of the city.[14]
The history of Padua duringLate Antiquity follows the course of events common to most cities of north-eastern Italy. Padua suffered from the invasion of theHuns and was savagely sacked byAttila in 450. A number of years afterward, it fell under the control of theGothic kingsOdoacer andTheodoric the Great. It was reconquered for a short time by theByzantine Empire in 540 during theGothic War. However, depopulation from plague and war ensued. The city was again seized by the Goths underTotila, but was restored to the Eastern Empire byNarses only to fall under the control of theLombards in 568. During these years, many Paduans sought safety in the countryside and especially in the nearby lagoons of what would becomeVenice. In 601, the city rose in revolt againstAgilulf, the Lombard king who put the city under siege. After enduring a 12-year-long bloody siege, the Lombards stormed and burned the city. Many ancient artifacts and buildings were seriously damaged. The remains of an amphitheater (theArena) and some bridge foundations are all that remain of Roman Padua today.[dubious –discuss] The townspeople fled to the hills and later returned to eke out a living among the ruins; the ruling class abandoned the city for theVenetian Lagoon, according to a chronicle.[citation needed] The city did not easily recover from this blow, and Padua was still weak when theFranks succeeded the Lombards as masters of northern Italy.
At the Diet of Aix-la-Chapelle (828), the duchy andmarch of Friuli, in which Padua lay, was divided into four counties, one of which took its title from the city of Padua.
The end of the earlyMiddle Ages in Padua was marked by the sack of the city by theMagyars in 899. It was many years after Padua recovered from this ravage.
During the period ofepiscopal supremacy over the cities of northern Italy, Padua does not appear to have been either very important or very active. The general tendency of its policy throughout thewar of investitures was Imperial (Ghibelline) and not Roman (Guelph); and its bishops were, for the most part, of Germanic extraction.
Under the surface, several important movements were taking place that were to prove formative for the later development of Padua.
At the beginning of the 11th century, the citizens established a constitution, composed of a general council orlegislative assembly and acredenza or executive body.
During the next century, they were engaged in wars with Venice and Vicenza for the right of water-way on the Bacchiglione and the Brenta. The city grew in power and self-confidence and in 1138, the government was entrusted to two consuls.
The great families ofCamposampiero,Este andDa Romano began to emerge and to divide the Paduan district among themselves. The citizens, in order to protect their liberties, were obliged to elect apodestà in 1178. Their choice first fell on one of the Este family.
A fire devastated Padua in 1174. This required the virtual rebuilding of the city.
The temporary success of theLombard League helped to strengthen the towns. However, their civic jealousy soon reduced them to weakness again. In 1214–1216, Padua was involved ina conflict with Venice, which it lost. In 1236Frederick II found little difficulty in establishing his vicarEzzelino III da Romano in Padua and the neighbouring cities, where he practised frightful cruelties on the inhabitants. Ezzelino was unseated in June 1256 without civilian bloodshed, thanks toPope Alexander IV.
Padua then enjoyed a period of calm and prosperity: the basilica of the saint was begun; and the Paduans became masters of Vicenza. TheUniversity of Padua (the second university in Italy, after Bologna) was founded in 1222, and as it flourished in the 13th century, Padua outpaced Bologna, where no effort had been made to expand the revival of classical precedents beyond the field of jurisprudence, to become a center of earlyhumanist researches,[15] with first-hand knowledge of Roman poets that was unrivalled in Italy or beyond the Alps.[16]
However, the advances of Padua in the 13th century finally brought the commune into conflict withCan Grande della Scala, lord of Verona. In 1311 Padua had to yield to the Scaligeri of Verona.
Jacopo da Carrara was elected lord (signore) of Padua in 1318, at that point the city was home to 40,000 people.[17] From then till 1405, nine members of theCarraresi family, including Ubertino, Jacopo II, and Francesco il Vecchio, succeeded one another as lords of the city, with the exception of a brief period ofScaligeri overlordship between 1328 and 1337 and two years (1388–1390) whenGiangaleazzo Visconti held the town. The period of thesignoria is covered down to 1358 in the chronicle ofGuglielmo Cortusi.
The Carraresi period was a long period of restlessness, for the Carraresi were constantly at war. Under Carraresi rule the early humanist circles in the university were effectively disbanded:Albertino Mussato, the first modernpoet laureate, died in exile atChioggia in 1329, and the eventual heir of the Paduan tradition was the TuscanPetrarch.[18]
There was just a brief period when the city changed hands (in 1509) during the wars of theLeague of Cambrai. On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, theHoly Roman Empire, andFerdinand V of Castile concluded the League of Cambrai against the Republic. The agreement provided for the complete dismemberment of Venice's territory in Italy and for its partition among the signatories:Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg was to receive Padua in addition to Verona and other territories. In 1509 Padua was held for just a few weeks by Imperial supporters. Venetian troops quickly recovered it and successfully defended Padua duringits siege by Imperial troops.
The city was governed by two Venetian nobles, a podestà for civil affairs and a captain for military affairs. Both of them were elected for sixteen months. Under these governors, the great and small councils continued to discharge municipal business and to administer the Paduan law, contained in the statutes of 1276 and 1362. The treasury was managed by two chamberlains; and every five years the Paduans sent one of their nobles to reside asnuncio in Venice, and to watch the interests of his native town.
Venice fortified Padua with new walls, built between 1507 and 1544, with a series of monumental gates.
Austrian rule was unpopular with progressive circles in northern Italy, but the feelings of the population (from the lower to the upper classes) towards the empire were mixed. In Padua,the year of revolutions of 1848 saw a student revolt which on 8 February turned the University and theCaffè Pedrocchi into battlegrounds in which students and ordinary Paduans fought side by side. The revolt was however short-lived, and there were no other episodes of unrest under the Austrian Empire (nor previously had there been any), as inVenice or in other parts of Italy; while opponents of Austria were forced into exile.
Under Austrian rule, Padua began its industrial development; one of the first Italianrail tracks, Padua-Venice, was built in 1845.
Annexed to Italy during 1866, Padua was at the centre of the poorest area ofNorthern Italy, asVeneto was until the 1960s. Despite this, the city flourished in the following decades both economically and socially, developing its industry, being an important agricultural market and having a very important cultural and technological centre like the University. The city hosted also a major military command and many regiments.
When Italy enteredWorld War I on 24 May 1915, Padua was chosen as the main command of theItalian Army. The king,Vittorio Emanuele III, and thecommander in chief, Cadorna, went to live in Padua for the period of the war. After the defeat of Italy in the battle ofCaporetto in autumn 1917, the front line was situated on the river Piave. This was just 50–60 km (31–37 mi) from Padua, and the city was now in range of the Austrian artillery. However, theItalian military command did not withdraw. The city was bombed several times (about 100 civilian deaths). A memorable feat wasGabriele D'Annunzio's flight toVienna from the nearby San Pelagio Castle air field.
During the war, the industry grew rapidly, and this provided Padua with a base for further post-war development. In the years immediately following World War I, Padua developed outside the historical town, enlarging and growing in population, even if labor and social strife were rampant at the time.
As in many other areas in Italy, Padua experienced great social turmoil in the years immediately following World War I. The city was shaken by strikes and clashes, factories and fields were subject to occupation, and war veterans struggled to re-enter civilian life. Many supported a new political way,fascism. As in other parts of Italy, theNational Fascist Party in Padua soon came to be seen as the defender of property and order against revolution. The city was also the site of one of the largest fascist mass rallies, with some 300,000 people reportedly attending one speech byBenito Mussolini.
New buildings, in typicalfascist architecture, sprang up in the city. Examples can be found today in the buildings surrounding Piazza Spalato (today Piazza Insurrezione), the railway station, the new part of City Hall, and part of the Bo Palace hosting the University.
Following Italy's defeat in theSecond World War on 8 September 1943, Padua became part of theItalian Social Republic, apuppet state of the Nazi occupiers. The city hosted the Ministry of Public Instruction of the new state, as well as military and militia commands and amilitary airport. The Resistenza, theItalian partisans, was very active against both the new fascist rule and the Nazis. One of the main leaders of the Resistenza in the area was the University vice-chancellor, Concetto Marchesi.
From December 1943 to the end of the war,Padua was bombed 24 times by Allied aircraft; the heaviest raids were the ones on 16 and 30 December 1943 (each of which caused 300 victims), 7 February 1944 (300 victims), 11 March 1944 (over 300 tons of bombs dropped by 111 bombers), 22 and 23 March 1944, 20 April 1944 (180 victims), 22 February and 12 March 1945.[19][20] The worst-hit areas were the railway station (the target of most raids) and the northern district of Arcella, where 96% of all buildings were destroyed; overall, 950 homes were destroyed and 1,400 damaged.[21] During one of these bombings, theChurch of the Eremitani, with frescoes byAndrea Mantegna, was destroyed, considered by someart historians to be Italy's biggest wartime cultural loss. TheCathedral and theUniversity also suffered damage.[21] Some 2,000 inhabitants of Padua were killed by the raids.[19]
On 26 April 1945, the partisans started the final insurrection against the Germans and Fascists; in the subsequent fighting, 224 partisans and 497 Germans were killed. 5,000 German troops, including three generals, surrendered to the partisans in Padua, and another 10,000 in the surrounding area; on 28 April New Zealand troops (2nd New Zealand Division) of theBritish Eighth Army entered the city.[22][23] A smallCommonwealth War Cemetery is located in the west part of the city, commemorating the sacrifice of these troops.
After the war, the city developed rapidly, reflecting Veneto's rise from being the poorest region in northern Italy to one of the richest and most economically active regions of modern Italy.
As of 2025, there are 207,694 people residing in Padua, of which 48.2% are male and 51.8% are female. Minors total 13.4% of the population and pensioners number 26.8%. This compares with the Italian average of minors making up 14.9% and pensioners making up 24.7%.[29] The average age of Padua residents is 45 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the 10 years between 2011 and 2021, the population of Padua grew by 0.2%, while Italy as a whole declined by 0.7%.[28] The currentbirth rate of Padua is 8.49 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
Still in the year 2025 the 84.30% of the population was Italian.[29]The largest foreign community comes from Romania with 24.6% of all foreigners present in the country, followed by the People's Republic of China and Moldova.[30]
TheScrovegni Chapel (Italian:Cappella degli Scrovegni) is Padua's most notable sight. It houses a cycle of frescoes completed in 1305 byGiotto.[31] It was commissioned byEnrico degli Scrovegni, a wealthy banker, as a private chapel once attached to his family's palazzo. It is also called the "Arena Chapel" because it stands on the site of a Roman-era arena. The fresco cycle details the life of theVirgin Mary and has been acknowledged by many to be one of the most important fresco cycles in the world for its role in the development of European painting. It also includes one of the earliest representations of a kiss in the history of art (Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1305). Entrance to the chapel is an elaborate ordeal, as it involves spending 15 minutes prior to entrance in a climate-controlled, airlocked vault, used to stabilize the temperature between the outside world and the inside of the chapel. This is intended to protect the frescoes from moisture and mold.
ThePalazzo 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 81.5 m (267.39 ft), its breadth 27 m (88.58 ft), and its height 24 m (78.74 ft); the walls are covered withallegoricalfrescoes; the building stands upon arches, and the upper storey is surrounded by an open loggia, not unlike that which surrounds the basilica ofVicenza. The Palazzo was begun in 1172 and finished in 1219. In 1306, 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 1420, when the Venetian architects who undertook the restoration removed them, throwing all three spaces into one and forming the present great hall, theSalone. The new space was refrescoed by Nicolo' Miretto andStefano da Ferrara, working from 1425 to 1440. Beneath the great hall, there is a centuries-old market.
In thePiazza dei Signori is the loggia called theGran Guardia, (1493–1526), and close by is thePalazzo del Capitanio, the residence of the Venetian governors, with its great door, the work ofGiovanni Maria Falconetto, the Veronese architect-sculptor who introducedRenaissance architecture to Padua and who completed the door in 1532. Falconetto was the architect ofAlvise Cornaro's garden loggia, (Loggia Cornaro), the first fully Renaissance building in Padua.[32] Nearby stands the Cathedral, remodelled in 1552 after a design ofMichelangelo. It contains works by Nicolò Semitecolo,Francesco Bassano and Giorgio Schiavone. The nearby Baptistry, consecrated in 1281, houses the most important frescoes cycle byGiusto de' Menabuoi.
TheTeatro Verdi is host to performances of operas, musicals, plays, ballets, and concerts.
The most celebrated of the Paduan churches is theBasilica di Sant'Antonio da Padova, locally known as "Il Santo". The bones of the saint rest in a chapel richly ornamented with carved marble, the work of various artists, among themSansovino and Falconetto. The basilica was begun around the year 1230 and completed in the following century. Tradition says that the building was designed byNicola Pisano. It is covered by seven cupolas, two of them pyramidal. There are also four cloisters. The belltower has eight bells in C.
Not far from the Gattamelata statue are the St. George Oratory (13th century), with frescoes byAltichiero, and theScuola di S. Antonio (16th century), with frescoes byTiziano (Titian).
One of the best known symbols of Padua is thePrato della Valle, a 90,000 m2 (968,751.94 sq ft) elliptical square. This is one of the biggest in Europe. In the centre is a wide garden surrounded by an oval canal, lined by 78 statues portraying illustrious citizens. It was created by Andrea Memmo in the late 18th century. Memmo once resided in the monumental 15th-centuryPalazzo Angeli, which now houses theMuseum of Precinema.
Abbey of Santa Giustina and adjacent Basilica. In the 15th century, it became one of the most important monasteries in the area, until it was suppressed by Napoleon in 1810. In 1919 it was reopened. The tombs of several saints are housed in the interior, including those of Justine,St. Prosdocimus,St. Maximus, St. Urius,St. Felicita, St. Julianus, as well as relics of the Apostle St. Matthias and the EvangelistSt. Luke. This is home to some art, including theMartyrdom of St. Justine byPaolo Veronese. The complex was founded in the 5th century on the tomb of the namesake saint,Justine of Padua. The belltower has eight bells in B.
TheChurch of the Eremitani is an Augustinian church of the 13th century, containing the tombs of Jacopo (1324) andUbertinello (1345) da Carrara, lords of Padua, and the chapel of SS James and Christopher, formerly illustrated byMantegna's frescoes. This was largely destroyed by the Allies inWorld War II, because it was next to the Nazi headquarters. The old monastery of the church now houses theMusei Civici di Padova (town archeologic and art museum).
Santa Sofia Church is probably Padova's most ancient church. The crypt was begun in the late 10th century by Venetian craftsmen. It has a basilica plan with Romanesque-Gothic interior and Byzantine elements. The apse was built in the 12th century. The edifice appears to be tilting slightly due to the soft terrain.
The church ofSan Gaetano (1574–1586) was designed byVincenzo Scamozzi, on an unusual octagonal plan. The interior, decorated with polychrome marbles, houses aMadonna and Child byAndrea Briosco, in Nanto stone.
The City Hall, called Palazzo Moroni, the wall of which is covered by the names of the Paduan dead in the different wars of Italy and which is attached to the Palazzo della Ragione;
The city centre is surrounded by the 11 km-long (6.8 mi)city walls, built during the early 16th century, by architects that includeMichele Sanmicheli. There are only a few ruins left, together with two gates, of the smaller and inner 13th-century walls. There is also a castle, the Castello. Its main tower was transformed between 1767 and 1777 into anastronomical observatory known asSpecola. However the other buildings were used as prisons during the 19th and 20th centuries. They are now being restored.
The university also hosts the oldestbotanical garden (1545) in the world. The botanical gardenOrto Botanico di Padova was founded as the garden of curative herbs attached to the University's faculty of medicine. TheSenate of the Venetian republic decided that knowledge ofherbal remedies would reduces errors made by pharmacists, so the garden was built. Over time, the Venetian republic funded field trips that gathered plants from all over the world, making it an important place for the introduction of many exotic plants. It still contains an important collection of rare plants.[33]
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, such asGiotto,Fra Filippo Lippi andDonatello; and for native art there was the school ofFrancesco Squarcione, whence issuedMantegna.
Francesco Petrarca (commonly anglicized as Petrarch, 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374), a scholar, poet of theItalian Renaissance, and one of the earliest humanists, was Canonico at thePadua Cathedral (Duomo), invited byFrancesco I da Carrara, lord of Padua. Petrarca lived in thecanonical house via Dietro Duomo 26/28 in 1349 which remained his property until 1374. His house in Padua was a stopover for numerous historical figures, such as the Carrara princes andGiovanni Boccaccio.
Padua is also the birthplace of the celebrated architectAndrea Palladio, whose 16th-centuryvillas in the area of Padua,Venice,Vicenza andTreviso are among the most notable of Italy and they were often copied during the 18th and 19th centuries; and ofGiovanni Battista Belzoni, adventurer, engineer andegyptologist.
The sculptorAntonio Canova produced his first work in Padua, one of which is among the statues of Prato della Valle (presently a copy is displayed in the open air, while the original is in the Musei Civici). In Prato della Valle, there is the statue of Antonio Canova (by Giovanni Ferrari), which depicts the sculptor in the act of sculpting the bust of the prosecutor Antonio Cappello.[34]
The Antonianum is settled among Prato della Valle, the Basilica of Saint Anthony and the Botanic Garden. It was built in 1897 by the Jesuit fathers and kept alive until 2002. During World War II, under the leadership of P. Messori Roncaglia SJ, it became the center of the resistance movement against theNazis. Indeed, it briefly survived P. Messori's death and was sold by the Jesuits in 2004.
Since local government political reorganization in 1993, Padua has been governed by the City Council of Padua. Voters elect directly 33 councilors and the mayor of Padua every five years. The current mayor of Padua is Sergio Giordani (independent, supported by thePD), elected on 26 June 2017.
* Special prefectural commissioners, nominated after the majority of the members of the City Council resigned in order to remove the mayor from the office.
While Veneto has traditionally been Italy's most conservative region, Padua as a university city has had somewhat left-wing leanings. In the 1970s, leftist groups like Potere Operaio and Autonomia Operaia were strong in the city. Since the mayors became directly elected in 1995, only two right-wing mayors have been elected: Giustina Mistrello Destro in 1999 and Massimo Bitonci in 2014.
The industrial area of Padova was created in the eastern part of the city in 1946; it is now one of the biggest industrial zones in Europe, having an area of 11 million sqm. The main offices of 1,300 industries are based here, employing 50,000 people. In the industrial zone, there are two railway stations, onefluvial port, three truck terminals, two highway exits and a lot of connected services, such as hotels, post offices and directional centres.
According to data released by theItalian Ministry of the Economy and Finances, based on declared income from tax filings, the total average per capita gross income in Padova was €30,134 for 2022, well above the declared average for Italy at €20,039.[35]
The rate of localincome tax for Padova has trended steadily upwards from 0.20% in 2001. In 2024, the city levied a local income tax with rates that ranged from 0.69% to 0.80% depending on the bracket.[36]
Bycar, there are 2 motorways (autostrade in Italian): A4 Brescia-Padova, connecting it to Verona (then toBrenner Pass,Innsbruck andBavaria) andMilan (then Switzerland,Turin and France); A4 Padova-Venezia, toVenice thenBelluno (forDolomites holiday resorts likeCortina)Trieste andTarvisio (for Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Eastern Europe); A13 Bologna-Padova, toFerrara andBologna (thenCentral andSouth Italy). Roads connect Padua with all the large and small centers of the region. Amotorway with more than 20 exits surrounds the city, connecting districts and the small towns of the surrounding region.
Padua has two railway stations open to passengers. The main stationStazione di Padova has 11 platforms and is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Padova Centrale"; it is one of the biggest stations in Italy. More than 450 trains per day leave Padova. The station is used by over 20 million passengers per year. From Padova,high speed trains connect toMilan, Rome,Bologna,Florence andVenice; one can reach Milan in 1hour and 59 minutes, Rome in 3hours 13minutes and Venice in 30 minutes.[citation needed] There are also international day trains to Zurich and Munich, and overnight sleeper services to Munich and Vienna (ÖBB).
The station was opened in 1842 when the service started on the first part of theMilan–Venice railway (the "Imperial Regia Ferrovia Ferdinandea") built from Padua to Marghera through Mestre. Porta Marghera is a major port of the Venetian area.
Railways enthusiasts can visit the Signal Box A (Cabina A), preserved by the "Società Veneta Ferrovie" (a society named after the former public works and railway company, based in "Piazza Eremitani" in Padua) association.
TheGino Allegri, orAeroporto civile di Padova "Gino Allegri", is no longer served by regularly scheduled flights. Padua is, however, the home of one of Italy's fourarea control centres.
Urban public transport includes public buses together with a newTranslohr guided tramway (connecting Albignasego, in the south of Padua, with Pontevigodarzere in the north of the city, thanks to thenew line built in 2009) and privatetaxis.
The city centre is partly closed to vehicles, except for residents and permitted vehicles. There are somecar parks surrounding the district. In this area, as well, there are some streets and squares restricted to pedestrian and bicycle use only.
Padua has approximately 40 bus lines, which are served by new buses (purchased in 2008–9).
TheVeneto Region is building a regional rail line (S-Bahn-like system) around the city with 15 new stations. Its name will beSFMR and it will reach theprovince of Venice.
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Padova, Vicenza e Verona, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 46 min. 5% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 13 min, while 30% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 4.7 km, while 4% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.[37]
Padua is the home ofCalcio Padova, an association football team that currently plays in Italy'sSerie B, and who played 16Serie A championships (last 2 in 1995 and 1996, but the previous 14 between 1929 and 1962); thePetrarca Padovarugby union team, winner of 14 national championships (all between 1970 and 2022) and 2 national cups, and now plays in theTop12 league; and thePallavolo Padova volleyball club, once called Petrarca Padova as well, which plays in the Italian first division (Superlega) and who won aCEV cup in 1994. Basketball,cycling (Padua has been for several years home of the famousGiro del Veneto),rowing (two teams among the best ones in Italy, Canottieri Padova and Padova Canottaggio),horseback-riding, and swimming are popular sports too.
The main venues are the following:Stadio Euganeo for football, rugby (it occasionally hosts thenational team during theAutumn internationals) and athletics, about 32,000 seats;Stadio Plebiscito for rugby union, about 9,000 seats; Palazzetto dello Sport San Lazzaro for volleyball and basketball, about 5,000 seats; Ippodromo Breda – Le Padovanelle forhorse races. The old Stadio Appiani, which hosted up to 21,000 people, presently reduced to 10,000 for security reasons twenty years ago, and near to Prato della Valle in the city central area, was recently restored and hosts some Calcio Padova training sessions, as well as youth games. There is also a small ice stadium forskating andhockey, with about 1,000 seats.
Padua hosts consulates for several nations, including those of Canada, Croatia, Ivory Coast, Peru, Poland, Switzerland and Uruguay. A consulate for South Korea was planned in 2014 and a consulate for Moldova was opened on 1 August 2014.[38]
^"The linear ancestor ofRenaissance humanism" according to Roberto Weiss,The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity (Oxford: Blackwell) 1973:17.
^Guido Billanovich, "'Veterum Vestigia Vatum' nei carmi dei preumanisti padovani",Italia Medioevale e Umanistica I 1958:155–243, noted by Weiss 1973:17 note 4.
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