The best traffic-free bike rides around Piove Di Sacco

Sunday morning is very busy

Very evocative lagoon area.

La Specola, also known as the Tower of Galileo, is one of Padua's most important historical and scientific symbols. Originally a defense tower of the 14th-century Castello dei Carraresi, the structure was transformed between 1767 and 1777 into an Astronomical Observatory by the University of Padua. The name derives from the Latin specula, meaning "place for observation". Although the scientist from Pisa never worked in this tower (Galileo taught in Padua from 1592 to 1610, before its construction), La Specola preserves the memory of his revolutionary celestial discoveries. Today, the building is the headquarters of the Padua section of INAF (National Institute for Astrophysics) and houses the Museum of La Specola. Inside, you can admire the evocative Hall of Figures and an extraordinary collection of 18th- and 19th-century astronomical instruments.

Boschettona Beach—also known as Paduan Beach—is a stretch of lagoon located in the municipality of Codevigo, and is the only stretch of coast still suitable for swimming in the province of Padua.

Many embankments and roads with little traffic

https://ortobotanico1545.it/

Prato della Valle, Padua The Prato della Valle, one of Padua's landmarks, is a large, monumental space distinguished by a central green island, Isola Memmia, named in honor of the city's governor who commissioned its creation. This island is surrounded by a canal adorned with a double pedestal featuring numbered statues of famous figures from the past. Since antiquity, this public space has served both economic and recreational functions. In Roman times, a large theater, the Zairo, stood here; remains of the theater's foundations have been found in the canal surrounding Isola Memmia, along with a circular racecourse for chariots. During the Middle Ages, fairs, tournaments, festivals, and competitions were held here; it was the site of large gatherings of "all the free men of Padua," and as early as 1077, it was a marketplace. Until 1767, it belonged to the Abbey of Santa Giustina. Then, the Senate of Veneto declared it municipal land and, together with Andrea Memmo, Provveditore della Serenissima (Governor of the Venetian Republic), implemented a radical redevelopment project. The aim was to create a new urban commercial center, a space suitable for fairs and events. Later, pavilions were erected on Isola Memmia to establish a market. Subsequently, trees were planted, giving the square a distinctly English feel, while the surrounding buildings made it unique, original, and memorable. The design is inspired by the great Venetian tradition of the patrician garden, which here, for the first time, is taken out of private use and proposed according to neoclassical concepts as an urban planning solution and ecological enhancement. Text / Source: Turismo Padova https://www.turismopadova.it/de/orte/prato-della-valle/

Basilica of Santa Giustina, Padua The Basilica of Santa Giustina, which housed one of the most important and influential religious communities in Padua during the Middle Ages, has its origins long before the arrival of the monks: The first basilica was built in the 6th century on the site of the former cemetery of Prato della Valle, where the young martyr Giustina, a victim of Maximian's persecutions of Christians, was buried in 304 AD. The arrival of the Benedictines in Padua dates back to the 10th century. After their settlement, the remains of saints, hidden during the barbarian invasions, gradually came to light, including those of Saint Giustina and Saint Luke the Evangelist, author of the Third Gospel and chronicler of the Acts of the Apostles. His relics were brought from Thebes (Greece) to Constantinople and then from Constantinople to Padua. The present basilica dates from the 16th century and is 122 meters long, with three naves in the form of a Latin cross. The apse contains the remarkable carvings of the 15th-century wooden choir and the altarpiece by Paolo Veronese from 1575, depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Giustina. The transept houses the tomb of Saint Luke the Evangelist on the left and the tomb of Saint Matthias the Apostle on the right. From there, the impressive Martyrs' Corridor leads to the chapel in the form of a Greek cross, built at the end of the 6th century on the tomb of Saint Prosdocimus, the first Bishop of Padua. The monastery was dissolved by Napoleon in 1810 and served as a barracks until 1919, when the Benedictines returned to Sant'Giustina. Only with an authorized guide is it possible to visit the 14th-century Chapel of St. Luke, where Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, the world's first female academic (1678), is buried, as well as the old 15th-century choir and the vestibule leading to the sacristy. Text / Source: Prato della Valle - Sagrato di Santa Giustina, Padova (PD) http://www.abbaziasantagiustina.org https://www.turismopadova.it/de/orte/benediktinerabtei-der-heiligen-giustina/