PADUA (Padova) - Stop 1
We stayed in a cute hotel in Padua for the weekend. It was an interesting drive up. We passed through the hills of central Italy, and there was quite a bit of snow which slowed us down. It's all good, we made it in one piece after 5 or 6 hours. My roommate downstairs, Andrea, was also on the trip so we roomed together and spent the days together which was great.
Okay, so Padua. I'd never heard of it (so don't feel bad if you're asking yourself what the big deal about that place is...) But, it actually is a pretty big deal for Italian history. Before the old Romans (~100BC), Padua was the 2nd most important city in the now called Roman empire. The city was the center of education in Italy. The city boasts the oldest Benedictine church in the world, built in 304AD called Basilica della Santa Justina (as well as the Basilica di Sant'Antonio). The church was completed in the 5thC. and is the 9th biggest Christian church in the world. It is a property of the Vatican State, so the land/church is not Italian property; it is in fact property of the Vatican. As you can see in the picture, the church is both huge and architecturally unique. The church consists of five different styles -- Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Romanesque. Different construction was completed as different conquerers came to Padua; construction lasted for centuries.
Padua is the town of Saint Anthony, the Patron Saint of 'Finding lost things'. Santa Justina is also a patron saint of Padua, but apparently Saint Anthony is main guy. Inside the Basilica (italian for 'tomb'), Saint Anthony's remains can be found. Also, just as a side note, there are a lot of myths surrounding his remains. Saint Anthony was considered a gifted communicator. He could address important politicians as well as the people of Italy. His tomb is very highly protected.
I tried to take pictures of how exquisite his tomb was, but no pictures were allowed so forgive the blurriness. The whole inside of the church is gold plated, adorned with the most amazing marble sculptures and mosaics. You can actually tell the different parts of the church that have been added through the artistic ages. It's totally cool; the church is ginormous. And every inch of it is covered in gold. Very humbling.
Saint Anthony's tomb
GOLD!
As a sidenote about Padua, the city has a population of about 230,000. 60-65,000 of those people are University students. The University of Padua was the first known established University in the world (14C). It is historically monumental in this aspect. Botanical medicine was first discovered and used on live subjects here. The Medical school was the first to implement the concept of "teaching-hospitals" in the world. The Law school is considered among the top schools in Europe. Astute academia taught and studied in Padua; Galileo Galilei studied and taught here, and coming up with the sun-centred universe theory. Because the city is a "University town", there are tonnes of young people, which is a change of pace compared to the big cities of Rome, Venice, etc. That was certainly very cool to see, and to experience.
On to VENICE!!
Venice was so so so cool. I really enjoyed it. It's definitely the most unique place I've ever been. Venice is a city that was built up from a lagoon, with thousands of stilts and sand as foundation. It is technically a city of islands, 120 of them; shaped like a fish from the sky!! The Grand Canal divides Venice in half, and was and still is today the entrance to the city. Venice was the first European trading port; it was the first European city that engaged in trade with the Far East. For this reason, the city is heavily influenced by Eastern culture (as compared with the developed "Western" concept).
Venice is famous for several cultural reasons. First, it is unique in that the city is entirely dependent on water transportation! Their front doors are on canals...their garages are boat slips! They boat to school, boat to work, boat to the train station to mainland Italy, boat to get groceries...Everything is on water! There are 400 bridges in Venice, in case walking may be faster; the city has a mapped out plan that included "roads" of actual cobblestones, and then "roads" that are canals! In Rome and other Italian cities, there are 'piazzas' and 'vias' and 'viales' named after historical events and popes and emperors -- Venice has 'campos' and 'calles'. The "streets" are named after random facts about the area or people who first lived there...not after famous people or saints or monuments. The city of Venice is very humble in this regard. Also, there are no statues in Venice. Considering that I can't even count how many statues I pass on my way to school here in Rome, this difference is easily noticed in Venice. It has kept that definition of humility throughout centuries, as it wanted to maintain the welcoming facade to its trading partners and visitors as compared with the boisterous attitudes conveyed in Roman architecture and statues of wealth and riches. Albeit not flashy, it is one of the coolest places I've been!
Venice places host to one of the biggest youth parties in the world -- that being for Carnivale (Mardi-gras time). Everyone wears masks and basically just parties bigtime from what I hear. Those bridges with no handrails over the canals must get a little challenging to cross around this time of year I wager...just a thought...! These masks are seen everywhere. Every single store in Venice sells masks. Every tourist stand, every posh store...everywhere. Many are extremely elegant, while some could rival my five-year-old gobby art skills. They range from 50cents to 50,000Euro. Quite the cultural gig goin' on there. One of the myths of the city of Venice revolves around one of these mas. It has a beak, and on the decorative masks, it has glasses. This is the mask of the legend of the doctor who cured victims of the Plague in Venice when it ripped through the city and was considered by all as a non-curable disease. I bought one of these masks as a Christmas ornament :)
Masks!
One of many larger canals
Jewish Ghetto Nuovo: Fun fact for the day...The word ghetto comes from the verb 'ghettare' in Italian, which means to melt metals. This was common in Venice for shipbuilding. Consider that the next time you say you pass by the Ghetto, where all the homies and hoodrats live!
Another fun fact, in the above picture, you can see different vertical levels in the buildings. When Venice's population began to grow after it established itself as a very livable city, the city ran out of lagoon space for a foundation horizontally. So, they built upwards from existing buildings.
This is the main "parking-lot" of Venice! Everyone who goes to get groceries or goes to work or what-have-you, parks here!
Exhibit B: Garages and front doors
These next few pictures bring me to part B of Venice. Venice is the city of St. Mark, the evangelist, best friend to St. Peter and Jesus's good buddy. St. Mark is the symbol of Venice. His symbol consists of a winged lion. This symbol is adorned on all the buildings of Venice; all the shops, every bridge, everywhere. St. Mark's Basilica is the dominating structure in Venice. It is found at the mouth of the Grand Canal, the gateway to the city. It is absolutely massive, and beautiful. St. Mark is symbolized through paradise and angels, merging the earth and the sky. It is quite a sight. He is considered the patron saint of Venice.
St. Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco); its roots are in 828 where the initial structure came up as a result of a bunch of materials stolen from Alexandria in Egypt. In 1204, marble was brought from Egypt and Constantinople to adorn the Basilica. This is when the Venetian Empire began. The Basilica has some 8000 mosaics, and 300,000lbs of gold found inside.
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The Grand Canal: The canal that divides Venice in two. The Grand Canal has some 250 palaces from the Middle Ages onward...the views along the Grand Canal were reserved for Venice's wealthiest visitors and residents.
As a sidenote, it was freezing when I was in Venice, so I didn't go on a gondola ride and have some Italian sing to me on the romantic calm waters of the canals. Yes, disappointing, but the day was still great!! More incentive to go back again in warmer weather!
Stop 3 -- on to VERONA! The city where Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' is based! Verona is very picturesque. The city has painted walls from the Renaissance with details still showing to this day. Apparently back in the day, every wall had designs on it, not just your typical yellow red or brown paint. So that was definitely very cool to see. Verona was a political cornerstone in Italy in the early centuries AD. It is found at the crossroads between the two major highways in Italy linking the Northeast with the Southwest and the Northwest with the Southeast. For this reason, especially back when this was considered a very important meeting place for travellers, messengers, etc, Verona built a reputation for hosting people. It also built a reputation for the meeting place of politically different representatives. (This is where the story of Romeo and Juliet stems from!) All through Verona, you can see buildings with roofs with M's along the top -- these signified buildings with owners/workers in support of the emperor. Other unmarked buildings, or churches and the like, supported the pope. The Montagues in R&J were in favour of the empire, and the Capulets were in favour of the pope having all responsibility. (NB: The story behind the family feud itself is true -- the houses of both families in Verona have historical data/artifacts showing their allegiances. Whether or not the actual relationship between Romeo and Juliet existed is pure fiction, but the families did exist, and they were in constant disagreement. Either way, I think ole Willie did a pretty great job with that tragedy. Shame, Shakespeare actually stole the work from an Italian writer and wrote it to fit his standards and styles.)
Verona apartments
Main square in Verona; massive market on Sundays
Before sharpies existed, visitors would write their initials on pieces of gum. This ended up starting to ruin the walls, so they put white plaster on some parts of the walls for people to vandalize.
"Wherefore art thou, Romeo?!" -- Juliet's balcony
The Forum of Verona; hosts the biggest opera concert in the world every summer from June until September. Built in the 4th C, the arena still has incredible acoustics and the performers don't use mics!
Letters to Juliet! Anyone seen the movie?? If you haven't, there's a club in Verona that answers people's letters about love etc to Juliet. Naturally, I had to write one, being a fan of the legends that I am and all! I didn't put my return address, but it was the thought that counts haha!
Legend has it that if you touch the breast of Juliet, you will find true love. Well DUH! I had to take part in this! Her breast is actually a different colour because of all the visitors like me thinking this stuff is true!
All in all, this was a fantastic weekend. Loved the food, loved the people, my chaperones were fantastic and totally fun -- the trip was totally great. Thrilled I went, and would gladly return to any of these places. Venice was my favourite, but the other two cities are rich in history and have a lot going for them. Great weekend!
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