University of Padua

Padua ( PAD-ew-ə; Italian: Padova [ˈpaːdova] ; Venetian: Pàdova, Pàdoa or Pàoa) is a city and commune in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 214,000 (as of 2011). The city is sometimes included, with Venice (Italian Venezia) and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) which has a population of around 2,600,000. Padua stands on the Bacchiglione River, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Venice and 29 km (18 miles) southeast of Vicenza. The Brenta River, which once ran through the city, still touches the northern districts. Its agricultural setting is the Venetian Plain (Pianura Veneta). To the city's south west lies the Euganaean Hills, praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Shelley. Padua appears twice in the UNESCO World Heritage List: for its Botanical Garden, the most ancient of the world, and the 14th-century Frescoes, situated in different buildings of the city centre. (An example is the Scrovegni Chapel painted by Giotto at the beginning of 1300.) The city is picturesque, with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal piazze, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat. Saint Anthony, the patron saint of the city, was a Portuguese Franciscan who spent part of his life in the city and died there in 1231. Padua is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Padua, founded in 1222 and where figures such as Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus have taught or studied. Today, the university has around 65,000 students and has a profound impact on the city's recreational, artistic and economic activities. Galileo observed the moons of Jupiter on January 7, 1610 through a homemade telescope in Padua: his observations of the satellites of Jupiter caused a revolution in astronomy. Padua is the setting for most of the action in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. There is a play by the Irish writer Oscar Wilde entitled The Duchess of Padua. Its inhabitants sometimes call Padua "the city of the three withouts," because it is home to the "cafe without doors" (the Pedrocchi Café, which traditionally never closed), "the meadow without grass" (the Prato della Valle, a former bog that has been converted into one of the largest squares in Europe), and the "saint without a name" (because Paduans traditionally refer to Saint Anthony of Padua simply as "the Saint").

The Diocese of Padua (Italian: Diocesi di Padova; Latin: Dioecesis Patavina) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Veneto, northern Italy. It was erected in the 3rd century. The diocese of Padua was originally a suffragan (subordinate) of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. When the Patriarchate was suppressed permanently in 1752, it became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Udine. In 1818, when the dioceses of northern Italy were reorganized by Pope Pius VII, it became a suffragan of the Patriarchate of Venice, and remains so today.The current bishop is Claudio Cipolla. The seat of the bishop of Padua is in the Cathedral-Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta. The diocese also contains the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua and the Basilica of Santa Giustina.

San Giovanni di Verdara or Saint John of Verdara is a former Roman Catholic monastery and church located on Via San Giovanni di Verdara # 123, in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. It was founded in 1221, but now serves as a military hospital, and is not accessible to the public.

The Basilica del Carmine is a 16th-century Roman Catholic church located on piazza Francesco Petrarca in Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. It was made a minor basilica in 1960 by pope John XXIII

The Ponte Molino is a Roman bridge across the Bacchiglione in Padua, Italy. The span-to-rise ratio of the Late Republican bridge varies between 3.5–4.5 and 1, the ratio of clear span and pier thickness between 4–6.5 and 1.Apart from the Ponte Molino, there are other extant Roman bridges in Padua: Ponte San Lorenzo, Ponte Altinate and Ponte Corbo, all three also featuring segmented arches, as well as Ponte S. Matteo.

The gardens of the rotonda is a terraced garden, situated close to the historical centre of Padua, behind the sixteenth century wall and the Rampart of the Cat.

The Teatro Verdi is a theater and opera house in Padova, Italy named after composer Giuseppe Verdi. Constructed in 1749–1751, the theater was inaugurated in 1751. It was modernized in 1884.

Sant'Agnese is a 14th-century Roman Catholic former church located on via Sant'Agnese corner via Dante in the city of Padua in the region of Veneto, Italy. The church deconsecrated in the 1949s, was sold in 2011 to convert to residential units.

San Nicolò is a Romanesque and Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church in Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. It stands in front of a homonymous piazza, and is adjacent to the Palazzo Meschini and Palazzo Brunelli-Bonetti.

The Accademia Galileiana ('Galilean academy') is a learned society in the city of Padua in Italy. The full name of the society is Accademia galileiana di scienze, lettere ed arti in Padova ('Galilean academy of science, letters and the arts in Padova'). It was founded as the Accademia dei Ricovrati in Padua in 1599, on the initiative of a Venetian nobleman, Federico Cornaro. The original members were professors in the University of Padua such as professor Georgios Kalafatis; one of its original members was Galileo Galilei. In 1779 the academy merged with the Accademia di Arte Agraria (founded in 1769) and became the Accademia di Scienze Lettere e Arti; in 1949 it became the Accademia Patavina di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti; its name was changed to Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padova in 1997, in honor of Galileo. The academy is lodged in the Carraresi Palace in Padua.

Torre dell'Orologio is a clock tower located in the Piazza (Plaza) Dei Signori and positioned between the Palazzo (Palace) del Capitanio and the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi in Padua, or Padova, Italy. It is also referred to as the astronomical clock of Padua. The tower's construction began in 1426 and finished around 1430. The tower was a commission from Prince Ubertino de Carrara, who was part of the Carraresi clan of Padua, Italy, he was the Lord of Padua from 1338 to 1345. It would later be enlarged to accommodate the new clock that was created in 1427. The clock itself was completed in 1434. Later in 1436, ornamentation was added to the dial of the clock, and a year later the clock tower was inaugurated. At the base of the tower, the great triumphal arch, designed by Giovanni Maria Falconetto, was added in 1531.The design and construction of the clock was overseen by Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio, also known as Giovanni de' Dondi, who was an Italian physician, astronomer and mechanical engineer from Italy. Dondi was assisted by Gian Petro Dalle Caldiere. The clock has references to the zodiac throughout its design. However, on the original clock, the Libra sign was not present, as with the pre-Roman system Scorpio and Libra were one Zodiac sign. Today, the clock is open to the public. A group of volunteers called the Salvalarte ensures that sites like this one are open to the public. This group is a branch of the nation-wide environmental association.

The Triumphal Arch of Vallaresso, or locally referred to as the Arco Vallaresso is a 17th-century monumental arch in the town center of Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. In 1632, the arch, designed by Giambattista della Scala, was meant to honor Alvise Vallaresso, Venetian captain of the town, for his diligence in attempting to stem the Bubonic plague in Padua.The arch is a marble facade with an open portal facing the Piazza of the Padua Cathedral, to the left of the church when exiting. It is adjacent to the former Monte de Pieta building. The counter facade is a plain wall with the central opening. The decorative facade is in a sober classical style: four doric columns on plinths. Each couple frame an empty sculpture niche. The columns has a slender architrave, but support an elegant frieze with shields separated by triglyphs. The attic has a central inscription describing the reasons for erecting the arch, flanked by two coat of arms. Historians recall that Vallaresso did not flinch at imposing measures to stop the spread of the disease, such as quarantine of the sick, burials outside of the wall, and utilizing the local lazzaretto to isolate some of the ill. While the mortality was high, the 1631 plague season in Padua was over in a few months.