Arquà Petrarca
Arquà Petrarca, province of Padova [Padua], elevation 50 m/165 feet above sea level; train station at Monselice, 5 km/3 miles to the south.
This is the best known village of the Colli Euganei [Euganean hills] thanks to the name of the poet from Arezzo [Petrarch] who spent his last years here, and who is buried in a large marble sarcophagus in the piazza in front of the Chiesa di [church of] Santa Maria. The appearance of the village gives the impression of being in the middle ages and should not be very different from what it was during the years of Petrarch. You can visit his house which has been turned into a small museum.
This village can be reached easily on bicycle from the Padova-Monselice bike route, for example:
- after Battaglia Terme [if coming from Padova], where the unpaved section of the bike path ends [after almost 2 km/little less than a mile], you will end up at a paved crossroad [Via Rivella]; turning right you reach the center of Arquà in about 5 km/3 miles.
-
from the train station at Monselice: at the street-level crossing just south of the station, cross the train tracks and the street that runs parallel to them, continue west along the secondary street [Via Isola Verso Monte] that runs first between the houses on the outskirts of Monselice, then halfway around Montericco [Via Palazzina], where the village of Arquà will come into view.
-
from Valsanzibio (Villa Barbarigo): from the villa follow the main road (initially called Via Diana) to the south as far as Corte Borin, where, on the right, you take a small road (Via degli Ulivi) which in bypassing a small hill leads us directly to Arquà. Crossing over the hill would shorten the ride but at the price of a steep climb.
