Bet won.
The 'Urbs Picta' factor, the Unesco seal on the wonderful cycle of frescoes from the 1300s, has boosted tourism in Padua.
Giotto's city saw an increase in the flow of visitors, both from Italy and abroad, attracted not only by the beauty of the Scrovegni Chapel, but also by that journey of masterpieces created between 1305 and 1397, which revolutionized the history of modern art: from Jacopo da Verona to Guariento, from Giusto de Menabuoi to Jacopo Avanzi.
This is why 2023 promises to be the year of the definitive redemption of tourism in Padua, the only city to boast 2 Unesco sites, that of Urbs Picta, precisely, and that of the oldest Botanical Garden in the world.
The administration of Palazzo Moroni expected this 'flywheel' effect
on the attendance of holidaymakers, and the numbers have given the confirmation.
According to Wind/3 data processed by Aps Holding, the change in visitors to Padua and its province in January 2023 compared to the same period last year is equal to + 53.5%.
There were 34,114 arrivals of tourists from the rest of Europe recorded at the beginning of the year, compared to 18,842 in 2022, while intercontinental tourists amounted to 3,972 out of last year's 1,093.
National and European tourists are clearly higher than in previous years - naturally net of the Covid period - but visits from outside Europe are recording a real boom, which appear to have quadrupled.
February confirmed this trend: in the second month of the year there were almost 500 thousand visitors - tourists staying in the city - in the main museum sites,
with a growth of 31.5% compared to 2022;
the 'visits' (the visitor figure for the number of visits made) reached 786 thousand (+42.4%).
European and international tourists showed a real boom, respectively +92% and +33%.
As mentioned, the inclusion in July 2021 of "Padova Urbs Picta, the Scrovegni Chapel and the fresco cycles of the '300" in the Unesco World Heritage List contributed significantly to this rebirth.
Artistic and architectural works that make the Euganean capital one of the most prestigious and interesting sites in the world.
“The entire Urbs Picta is a constant and close dialogue between Giotto and other great artists such as Guariento, Giusto de' Menabuoi, Jacopo Avanzi, Altichiero, Jacopo da Verona who, together,
they created the most important fresco cycle at an international level – explains the councilor for culture of the municipality of Padua, Adrea Colasio.
But the jewels of Padua are many, starting from the other Unesco site: the Botanical Garden, established in 1545 for the study of medicinal plants, is a place of extraordinary beauty, where today it is possible to visit the Garden of Biodiversity, the museum botanist, and admire thousands of absolutely unique plant species.
Impossible, then, not to want to see, at least once, the Prato della Valle, the second largest square in Europe, from the distant Middle Ages a market place, and today also a location for the performance of many musical events and entertainment shows.
But Padua, known and referred to as the 'city of water',
In collaboration with:
Municipality of Padua
