Half day cruise terminal shore excursion to Padua, Venetian villas Brenta canal

After 40 minutes driving distance by highway, you will reach the town of Padua, a Roman Empire city of which very little is left today. From the Middle Ages, the town develops with churches and palaces under the rule of the Carrara family. And it became an important university center that dates back to 1222, just after Bologna. In this town, you can admire a masterpiece of the Italian medieval art: the Scrovegni Chapel that Giotto frescoed to the Carrara family. It is required a pre-booked ticket to visit this building that must be purchased from their website. Padua is also the city of St Anthony. In the basilica there are the relics of the saint, an important religious site visited by pilgrims coming from all over the world. And near this area, for botany lovers (and not only), we find the first university botanic garden in Europe. Founded in 1545, it is part of the Unesco World Heritage List, and member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Of particular value is the pedestrian historic center with the Herbs squares and remarkable buildings. At approximately 12:30pm you will leave the town to drive along the Brenta riviera, after your lunch break in an Italian restaurant with local meal. The Brenta waterway is the most famous and attended itinerary among those suggested to visit the Venetian villas. A waterway long about forty kilometers, which links Venice to Padua by tracing the course of an ancient branch of the river Brenta. From the fifteenth century, it was channeled and harnessed by locks for the navigation.