What is Montagnana known for?

Two kilometers of intact fourteenth-century brick ramparts with twenty-four hexagonal towers and four gates, one of the best-preserved rings in Europe. Andrea Palladio's villa for Cardinal Francesco Pisani, built around 1552 outside the eastern gate, a hybrid of urban facade and country plan. The Consorzio del Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo DOP was founded in Montagnana in 1971; the town hosts the May Festa del Prosciutto each year.

Montagnana is a comune in the province of Padova, Veneto region of Italy, about 56 kilometers from Vicenza.

Veneto · Padova

Montagnana

A walled town on the lower Padova plain with two kilometers of medieval ramparts and 24 hexagonal towers, headquarters of Prosciutto Veneto DOP.

56 km / 35 mi

Nearest hub (Vicenza)

8,937

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Montagnana sitson the lower Padova plain, thirty-five kilometers southwest of Padova on the Adige and Bacchiglione watershed. The town carries one of the best-preserved ring walls in Europe: two kilometers of brick rampart, six to eight meters high and ninety-six centimeters thick, with twenty-four hexagonal towers up to 19 meters tall and four gates. Ezzelino III da Romano built the Castello di San Zeno in 1242; the Carraresi added the Rocca degli Alberi in 1360-62 to anchor the western gate. The Gothic Duomo of Santa Maria Assunta, finished between 1431 and 1502, holds a Transfiguration altarpiece by Paolo Veronese and a fresco of David and Goliath now widely attributed to Giorgione. Outside the eastern gate stands Villa Pisani, designed by Andrea Palladio around 1552 for Cardinal Francesco Pisani. The Consorzio del Prosciutto Veneto DOP was founded in Montagnana in 1971; the May festival fills the centro between the gates.

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Gallery

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Known for

Cinta muraria
Two kilometers of fourteenth-century brick walls with twenty-four hexagonal towers up to 19 meters high, four gates and a continuous parapet walk.
Castello di San Zeno
Fortress at the eastern gate, built by Ezzelino III da Romano in 1242, with the Mastio tower 38 meters high and a civic museum inside.
Rocca degli Alberi
Western gate fortress built by the Carraresi between 1360 and 1362, with a moat and double drawbridge defending the road to Verona.
Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta
Gothic cathedral built 1431-1502 on Piazza Maggiore, with a Transfiguration altarpiece by Paolo Veronese and a fresco of David and Goliath attributed to Giorgione.
Villa Pisani
Patrician villa designed by Andrea Palladio around 1552 for Cardinal Francesco Pisani, outside the eastern gate; one of the architect's hybrid town-country compositions.
Piazza Maggiore
Central square inside the walls, bordered by the Duomo, Palazzo del Monte di Pietà and Palazzo Magnavin-Foratti, with the Loggia dei Magistrati on the north side.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through October are the right months for Montagnana. The lower Padova plain runs cool and clear in those windows, and the parapet walk on the walls gives the best views when the haze lifts. The Festa del Prosciutto Veneto DOP runs across two weekends in mid-May, the largest event of the year, with tastings and tours of the curing houses. July and August push past thirty-three degrees and the centro empties at midday; thunderstorms over the Berici hills are common in the late afternoon. November through March is quiet and often foggy. Many trattorie close midweek; the walls in winter mist, seen from outside the moat, are the photograph most visitors remember.