Padova/Padua (two photos)

The town of Padua lies between Venice and Verona, in North Eastern Italy

First photo

I couldn't resist the sight of these three elderly Italians in very early 20th century dress who were part of a promotion of the nearby commune of Camposampiero.  (For Camposampiero - no doubt in Venetian dialect - read Campo San Pietro)  For reasons not exactly clear there were also dozens of cyclists in the town in similarly anachronistic attire.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun.

Second Photo:  Palazzo della Ragione

This 80 metre long gothic building - built in the 13th/14th century - originally housed the town's Law Courts (Palazzo della Ragione).  The vast first floor room was originally covered with frescoes by Giotto, but these were damaged in a fire and had to be replaced in the 15th century.

Deciding on a photo to represent Padua was difficult: its association with St Anthony, Giotto, Donatello and Mantegna ensures that there are far too many numerous sites of interest in the town.  In the end I decided that this purely Gothic building provided an interesting contrast with the later Renaissance style of the Town Hall/Basilica in Vicenza (which was visited two days later).