Monuments to visit Padua

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.