Our guided tour of Padova, recently included in the UNESCO World Heritage <\/b>list for its large and precious collection of XIV century frescoes<\/b>, starts at the Caff\u00e8 Pedrocchi<\/b>, known as the \u201ccaffe without doors” and still a major symbol of Padova. <\/p>\n
Our walking tour reaches than the Townhall building, result of an evolution long centuries, where you see a middle ages tower next to byzantine capitals and a renaissance courtyard with elegant staircases, but also XIX century integrating and a main facade accomplished in the 30s. <\/p>\n
We\u2019ll enter the \u201cancient\u201d and the \u201cnew\u201d courtyards of Palazzo Bo<\/b>, the historical university building. The famous University of Padova <\/b>was founded in 1222, one of the first in Europe and has always been a core institution for the town, and a pilaster of its identity. Still are to be seen the \u201cAula Magna\u201d, where Galileo Galilei <\/b>thought as professor, numbers of coat of arms, remembering students and professors of the past, and the statue of Elena Cornaro<\/b>, the first woman with a university diploma in the world! <\/p>\n
The tour leads directly to the traditional market places<\/b>: Piazza della Erbe and Piazza della Frutta, noisy, coloured and animated crossroads of local life! In between, the great Palazzo della Ragione <\/b>overloads the market area, a masterpiece of middle-aged architecture holding the largest astrological frescoes cycle in the world. <\/p>\n