Padova Apartment

Piazza della Frutta: on the top floor of a building known as ”ad occhio di portico” dating back to the 12th century, an apartment with two large terraces and a view of the Palazzo della Ragione! The apartment is very bright (facing East-South and West) and consists of: living room, kitchen with adjacent dining room, three bedrooms + study, two bathrooms, and a cozy 16-meter habitable terrace with a veranda and access to another 40-meter terrace. On the attic floor, connected by a comfortable staircase, there is an independent area composed of another small living room, a room, and a bathroom. It is in excellent condition and has undergone a complete renovation in two phases (in 1981 and 1992) during which the finishes, systems, and roof were redone. The flooring is elegant wooden planks throughout except in the kitchen and dining room, which have terracotta floors. The exterior window frames are white lacquered with double glazing; the interior frames are white lacquered wood. The exposed wooden beams are beautiful, with some ancient beams recovered during the renovation. Additionally, the apartment has autonomous heating and air conditioning systems. It is located on the third (top) floor of the building, which does not have an elevator. If you are looking for a property in the heart of the historic city center, with comfortable living spaces and terraces where you can enjoy beautiful days in complete peace or with friends... call us at !!! Piazza della Frutta, history and curiosities (from PadovaOggi): Piazza della Frutta, once also called Piazza del Peronio, is one of the many squares that characterize the historic center of Padua. For centuries, along with Piazza delle Erbe, it was the city’s commercial center. One of the largest markets in Italy takes place in these two squares. The square is dominated by the mass of the Palazzo della Ragione, part of the large Palazzo Comunale, and the Torre degli Anziani. The Peronio Column characterizes the square. The square can also be called Piazza delle Frutta, following an ancient usage that uses the feminine plural ending -a for the word ’il frutto’ (the fruit). HISTORY. The area was lively in the pre-Roman era, as evidenced by numerous archaeological finds. According to some, it was a trading site already in the imperial era, but its current layout dates back to the 10th and 11th centuries. The space was occupied by numerous shops and stalls selling all kinds of goods, especially vegetables and poultry. With the construction of the Palazzo della Ragione in the early 13th century, an attempt was made to organize the various sales points: under the hall, fabric and fur sellers were installed, while at the foot of the palace stairs facing the square were the tents of poultry and game sellers (Scala dei Osei, to the east) and fruit and vegetable sellers (Scala dee Erbe, to the west). Movable stalls of shoe and leather sellers were set up in the space. Salt sellers were under the Torre degli Anziani, while in the corner later called Canton dee Busie, where merchants conducted dishonest trades, the Padua units of measurement were carved to prevent fraudulent sales. Giovanni da Nono in his Visio Egidii precisely documented the expansion of the Palazzo della Ragione in 1309 and the arrangement of shops at that time. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the medieval houses to the north were arranged with the straightening of the arcades. In the first half of the 19th century, the wooden balcony structures were permanently removed from the houses on the west and north sides, while at the beginning of the 20th century, the row of houses to the east was arranged with the widening of Contrà del Sale, later Via Oberdan. The neoclassical building on the northwest corner is the work of architect Antonio Noale. CURIOSITIES. In the square, on the day of ”zoba masa,” the first Thursday of May, the guild of ”strazzaroli” (ragpickers), second-hand dealers, and traders put on a show with the ”albero della cuccagna” (greasy pole). The prize was a purse and gloves, hence it was called the ”Festa della Borsa” (Festival of the Purse). A marble purse is carved in memory on the building on Via Marsilio da Padova, corner of Via Gorizia. Some of Padua’s oldest shops overlook the square: under the loggia of the Palazzo del Consiglio is the ancient pharmacy ”Ai due catini d’oro,” existing since the 18th century. Nearby is the pastry shop ”Graziati,” founded in 1919, occupying part of an ”occhio di portico” with 12th-century rooms. The Peronio is a medieval column placed in the center of Piazza della Frutta. It was perhaps used to support a commercial tent or as a marker for the arrangement of stalls set up in the square each morning. Its name possibly derives from the Latin ”perones,” leather footwear sold nearby, or, as in Vicenza, from ”Perones” meaning ”a set of public property areas.” It is topped by a capital with a pumpkin, a palm, a quince, and a pear tree at the corners, crowned by a small obelisk in Istrian stone with an ancient weather vane, featuring in bas-relief the city’s coat of arms and Saint Prosdocimus. After being placed in Prato della Valle for almost a century (at the corner of Via Briosco), it was restored to its original position in the mid-1990s. © PadovaOggi