Attractions and Places To See around Saonara - Top 20

Piazza dei Signori, Padua For the people of Padua, a stroll to the squares of the historic center, such as Piazza della Frutta, Piazza delle Erbe, and Piazza dei Signori, means immersing oneself in the markets that traditionally enliven the city every morning. Shopping is simultaneously a pleasure, a social occasion, a kind of daily ritual. But it's also worthwhile to look up and admire the architecture of the houses, balconies, and historic buildings that frame them. Piazza dei Signori is surrounded on its two main sides by two wings with colonnades, elegantly enhanced by terraces with antique wrought-iron balconies. The two shorter sides are bordered by the Church of San Clemente and the Palazzo del Capitanio with its clock tower, whose colonnade leads to the Corte Capitaniato and the nearby square of the same name. Here once stood the Castello dei Carraresi, which today houses the University of Padua with its Faculty of Literature and Philosophy and the rooms painted by Altichiero. On the south side of the square stands the elegant Loggia del Consiglio, or Gran Guardia, the 16th-century building where the city's Maggior Consiglio (Great Council) used to meet. The wide staircase leading to the loggia and the council chamber on the main floor are particularly worth seeing. Text / Source: Turismo Padova https://www.turismopadova.it/de/orte/piazza-dei-signori/

Villa Pisani is the most famous of the "Venetian Villas" along the Riviera del Brenta. The visit to this Museum requires the payment of a ticket of 12 euros. To visit the rooms and the garden you need at least an hour. Bicycles can be left in the rack outside. It is a magnificent place where numerous heads of state have stayed and whose rooms exude history. The Villa preserves furnishings and paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries. For information on opening hours and exhibitions https://www.villapisani.beniculturali.it/

Piazza dei Signori; a large square with the Palazzo del Capitano (from the 14th-16th centuries), where the Venetian governors resided and the watch tower with arcade and the elegant Loggia del Consiglio in Renaissance style. The clock still works on the almost 600 year old mechanism. Entrance is free, groups of maximum 10 people (guided tours only in the morning on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).

After the restoration work, which allowed the reopening of the tower in Piazza dei Signori in June 2010, the Astrarium clock, made in 1344 by Jacopo Dondi da Chioggia, is back in use in Padua. In 1437, the Astrario clock was faithfully reconstructed by the clockmakers Matteo Novello, Giovanni and Giampietro dalle Caldiere. The clock represents the Ptolemaic astronomical theory of a geocentric system that placed the Earth at the centre of the universe. The tower, 30 m high from the street level, has 5 internal floors, the first 3 of which were intended to house the parts of the clock mechanism, the other 2 formed the residence of the master clockmaker, custodian and maintainer. The cage clock is equipped with 2 "trains": the time train and the bell sound train. The dial has a round shape: the numbering of the hours is engraved on the external band with Roman characters, the internal band, made of lead plates, shows the copper stars. The third band, however, contains the zodiac symbols in relief. In the center is planet Earth. The lance that indicates the hours with the sun is at the base, while the moon appears in a round window. All the zodiac signs, except that of Libra which is missing, are finished with pure gold leaf. Source: https://www.padovanet.it/informazione/orologio-astrario-di-piazza-dei-signori

There are several squares in the city and each one is more beautiful than the other.

What a building, very impressive.

An impressive building on the canal.

Along the Brenta Riviera there are numerous historic villas but Villa Pisani is the best, largest and most majestic. It can also be reached across the river with a tour organized with Burchiello.