Things to see and do Padua

The Palazzo della Ragione is one of eight buildings in the heart of the historic city that make up the Cycles of ^14th-century frescoes in Padua, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2021. The palace, built in 1218, symbolizes the power and might of the municipality of Padua. The walls of the huge Great Hall are covered with frescoes painted by Giotto in the early ^14th century. You can also admire a 6-metre-high wooden horse, built in 1446, as well as a reproduction of Foucault's pendulum, since 2006.

The XIVᵉ century fresco cycles in Padua have been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2021. These frescoes, of inestimable artistic and historical value, were painted by the major painters of the period (Giotto, Guariento di Arpo, Giusto de Menabuoi, Altichiero da Zevio, Jacopo Avanzi and Jacopo da Verona) for various sponsors, in eight religious and secular buildings, located in the heart of the city. The art of the mural fresco is part of a universal value system, and it was Giotto who gave it its letters of nobility. His pictorial technique was later reproduced, notably during the Renaissance, by Michelangelo. Unesco describes it as "a totally new way of representing narrative in painting, with new spatial perspectives influenced by advances in the science of optics and a new ability to represent human figures, in all their characteristics, including feelings and emotions. These innovations mark a new era in the history of art, producing an irreversible change of direction". The multi-site collection of extraordinarily beautiful murals, known as Padova Urbs Picta, represents a unique heritage.

The eight sites of Padova Urbs Picta: Cappella degli Scrovegni, Chiesa dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo agli Eremitani, Palazzo della Ragione, Cappella della Reggia Carrarese, Battistero della Cattedrale, Basilica e convento del Santo, Oratorio di San Giorgio, Oratorio di San Michele.

Padua Tourist Office information site. Not to be missed. You'll find information on the city's cultural events, a list of hotels and restaurants, practical information, walking and cycling itineraries, and much more. The site also lets you book guided tours of Padua online, and purchase Urbs Picta Sites tickets, which give access to the various sites of the city's precious collection of ^14th-century wall frescoes, a Unesco World Heritage Site.