Euganean Hills

Among oaks, chestnut trees and illustrious guests

The Euganean Hills are a group of hills of volcanic origin which rise almost like an archipelago, a few kilometres southwest of Padua. The Euganean Hills is Veneto’s first Regional Park, inaugurated in 1989 to safeguard the territory and enhance the environment. These are soft hills, rarely exceeding five hundred metres, stretched across the rather vast area of almost 200 square km. “If only I could show you the second Mount Helicon which I have prepared, for you and for the Muses, in the Euganean Hills! I truly doubt that you would ever want to leave”. Francesco Petrarch dedicated these words in praise of the Euganean Hills, and it is here that the poet Aretino decided to take refuge, right at Arquà. There are various other medieval villages besides Arquà Petrarca: Este, home of its namesake House of Este, Battaglia Terme, with the imposing residence of the noble Obizzi, Monselice with the evocative promenade of the “seven churches”, and finally, the masterful Duomo di Montagnana, built at the end of the fifteenth centur