What is Arquà Petrarca known for?

Francesco Petrarca lived his last four years here, died at his desk in 1374, and is buried in the churchyard below his house. Jujube fruit grown on the village slopes; the Brodo di Giuggiole liqueur and the October Festa delle Giuggiole built around it. Two piazzas on different levels, the Casa above and the church and tomb below, intact since the fourteenth century.

Where is Arquà Petrarca?

Arquà Petrarca is a comune in the province of Padova, Veneto region of Italy, about 23 kilometers from Padova.

Veneto · Padova

Arquà Petrarca

The Euganean Hills village where Francesco Petrarca spent his last four years and died in 1374, renamed in his honor in 1868.

23 km / 14 mi

Nearest hub (Padova)

1,810

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Arquà sits between Monte Ventolone and Monte Castello, in the Euganean Hills south of Padova. The name dates to medieval records; the suffix Petrarca was added in 1868, after the Veneto's annexation to the Kingdom of Italy, as a public homage to the poet who chose to die here. Francesco Petrarca arrived in 1370 and lived in a thirteenth-century house he renovated himself across two stories, the Casa del Petrarca, now a museum with frescoes from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He died at his desk on the night of 18-19 July 1374. His tomb, an ark in red Verona marble inspired by Roman sarcophagi, was placed in the churchyard of Santa Maria Assunta in 1380 and reset in 1965. The village kept its medieval layout: two piazzas linked by a stepped path, the Casa above and the church and tomb below. The hills around it grow Colli Euganei DOC wine, olives, and the giuggiole that go into the local liqueur Brodo di Giuggiole.

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Gallery

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Known for

Casa di Francesco Petrarca
The poet's thirteenth-century house, renovated by him on two floors and now a museum with frescoes added by later owners in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Tomba di Petrarca
Sarcophagus in red Verona marble in the churchyard of Santa Maria Assunta, placed in 1380, six years after the poet's death.
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Parish church first documented in 1026, enlarged through the centuries, with frescoes of the Venetian-Byzantine school up to the fifteenth century.
Piazza Roma e Piazza San Marco
The two squares of the medieval borgo, the upper one near the Casa, the lower around the church and tomb, linked by stone steps.
Colli Euganei
Volcanic hills around the village, a regional park with walking trails between Monte Castello, Monte Piccolo and Monte Ventolone.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through October are the months Arquà is built for. The hills are green in spring and gold in autumn; the slope from Piazza Roma down to the church is comfortable walking weather. July and August push past thirty degrees and the village empties between two and six, though Padova day-trippers still arrive in the late afternoon. The Festa delle Giuggiole runs the first two Sundays of October, with stalls along Via Castello and the Brodo di Giuggiole on tap. November through March is quiet. Many trattorie close midweek. The view from Petrarca's loggia toward Monte Ventolone is best in winter when the leaves are off.