Padua: Montagnana

The walls of Montagnana

Montagnana, about 70 km from Padua, is a small town with one of the best preserved examples of medieval town walls in Europe. The walls, which are rectangular and are uninterrupted apart from four gates, extend for 2 km.

We parked opposite the southern section and the photo at the head of this post presents the memorable first sight of the walls. The elegant Porta XX Settembre stands in front of us.

A quick look inside the gate reveals that internally the walls are quite battered and lack a walkway between the numerous towers. This was a bit disappointing - it's always great to walk around on top of city walls.

We headed anti-clockwise to reach the eastern gate, the Porta Padova, with a defensive bastion and a large tower.

To the right, the walls and towers stretch away to the next corner.

Opposite is a real bonus, a country villa designed by the great architect Palladio, Villa Pisani. It is a classic example of his style, but looks sadly neglected. Here is the facade which is now on the road ...

... and here is the rear elevation, which looks like it was designed as the front. It is in a very poor state.

We follow the line of the walls and come upon a fascinating information panel. We learn from it that a museum in Rotterdam holds a drawing by Giorgione (one of my favourite artists) which depicts figures with a walled town behind them. It was thought that this was Castelfranco-del-Veneto, but is now regarded as being Montagnana. It is a beautiful drawing, even when copied from an information panel.

We turn left to see the third side of the walls. The slightly larger tower marks the third gate, the Porta Vicenza.

We can't really walk along the road as there is no path so we decide to walk along the grassy path right under the walls. We soon notice that there are many lovely flowers ... and several species of butterflies. What a lovely bonus!

The walls on the final side are the least impressive since the towers which were once there are now just stubs. The final gate - the Porta Legnago - is very impressive and we were delighted to see that it is the process of being renovated.

It is now clear that the south side, which we saw first, has undergone significant renovation.

We now explore the inside of the town. The best bit is the large main square ...

... which is dominated by the cathedral, the Duomo of Santa Maria Assunta.

Inside there is a single high and wide nave with short transepts.

Astonishingly, just inside the door are two frescoes (of Judith and David) which were discovered in the 1930s and are now confidently accepted as the work of ..... Giorgione.

Cloudy at first, but sunny later.

Rating: five stars.