Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Get the App

Palazzo della Ragione and the Piazza delle Erbe market, Padua

Palazzo della Ragione and the Piazza delle Erbe market, Padua

Highlight • Historical Site

Palazzo della Ragione and the Piazza delle Erbe market, Padua

Recommended by 144 hikers out of 145

Save

Location: Padova, Veneto, Italy

Save

See hikes here

Take Me There

Routes here

Best Hikes to Palazzo della Ragione and the Piazza delle Erbe market, Padua

4.7

(80)

684

hikers

1. Piazza dei Signori, Padova – Palazzo della Ragione, Padua loop from Padova

7.89km

02:02

40m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Moderate

4.8

(26)

162

hikers

2. Piazza della Frutta, Padua – Piazza dei Signori, Padova loop from Santa Rita

8.92km

02:17

30m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Moderate

4.5

(4)

147

hikers

3. Piazza della Frutta, Padua – Palazzo della Ragione, Padua loop from Santa Rita

3.58km

00:55

20m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Easy

Tips

Paul

November 19, 2025

Palazzo della Ragione, Padua

The Salòn, or Palazzo della Ragione, the former seat of Padua's municipal courts, is one of the largest column-free halls in Europe. Considered one of the most famous civic monuments in Europe from the time of the Communes, the building was begun in 1218.

Between 1306 and 1308, Fra Giovanni degli Eremitani transformed the three large rooms into a single hall and designed a roof in the shape of an inverted ship's hull.

Giotto and his workshop were commissioned to paint the walls with frescoes; however, the cycle was destroyed by fire in 1420.

The frescoes were restored by the Paduan Nicolo’ Miretto in collaboration with Stefano da Ferrara and other painters, based on the studies of Pietro d’Abano, a wealthy scholar of his time.

The fresco cycle is one of the very few medieval astrological cycles to have survived to this day. The connection between the paintings and the function of the place explains the presence of animal figures representing the insignia of the courts, whose function is also linked to the allegories of Justice, Law, the Community in Rule, and the frescoes depicting the Judgment of Solomon and the court scene.

In the great hall is the "Pietra del Vituperio," or Stone of Shame, upon which insolvent debtors, clad only in a shirt, had to sit three times (the custom is the origin of the expression "to stay in one's shirt"), while repeating the Latin phrase "cedo bonis" (roughly translated as "I will pay the bill"). Also located there is the large wooden horse, crafted by Annibale Capodilista for a tournament and donated to the city by the family.

Today, the great hall serves as a venue for exhibitions and cultural events.

Not to mention that "Sotto il salone" is the oldest cooperative in the world, dating back 700 years.

Text / Source: Turismo Padova
turismopadova.it/en/the-palazzo-della-ragione

Translated by Google •

🇧🇪 Herwig Aertbeliën

July 5, 2024

Products have been traded here for centuries in this nice, cozy covered marketplace. Come here and experience the atmosphere of the old shops below the hall. They create one of the most evocative and characteristic corners of Padua. Each store is full of high-quality food products: cheeses, meats, sausages and fish from all over Italy.
There are also typical local products and gastronomic novelties, real "delicacies" of pleasure that every trader wants to showcase with a view to a general recovery of good and authentic food and a rediscovery of forgotten traditions and flavors.

Translated by Google •

Marco Contarelli ilMog_blog

March 13, 2023

Wonderful square with the Palazzo della Ragione as a backdrop

Translated by Google •

Details

Informations

Elevation 30 m

Weather

Monday 8 December

12°C

2°C

0 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 7.0 km/h

Most visited during

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See hikes here

Take Me There

Location: Padova, Veneto, Italy

Other Popular Places to Check Out

Basilica di Santa Giustina

Prato della Valle

Naviglio Interno Canal

Orto botanico di Padova

Museo Diocesano di Padova

Chiesa di San Clemente

Ponte Benito Daga

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua

Palazzo della Ragione

Prato della Valle, Padua

Lungargine Scaricatore Riverside Path

Prato della Valle

Palazzo della Ragione and the Piazza delle Erbe market, Padua

1. Piazza dei Signori, Padova – Palazzo della Ragione, Padua loop from Padova

2. Piazza della Frutta, Padua – Piazza dei Signori, Padova loop from Santa Rita

3. Piazza della Frutta, Padua – Palazzo della Ragione, Padua loop from Santa Rita

Other Popular Places to Check Out

We value your privacy ⛰️

We value your privacy ⛰️