Hotels in Padua

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 c. 2,600,000.

The University of Padua, founded in 1222 – here Galileo Galilei was a lecturer between 1592 and 1610.

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.

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.

The city is also known for being the city where Saint Anthony, a Portuguese Franciscan (Anthony of Padua, also known as Anthony of Lisbon – the city where he was born in 1195), spent part of his life and died in 1231.