Discover Monselice

A concise introduction to Monselice, its geography, history and culture.

Introduction

Monselice sits against an isolated volcanic cone at the edge of the Euganean Hills, half an hour from Padua, with a castle at its foot and a ruined keep on the summit.

Its most unusual feature is a road. The Via del Santuario climbs the hill past seven small chapels, laid out in 1605 to a design by Vincenzo Scamozzi, and a papal grant gave anyone who walked them the same indulgence as visiting the seven great basilicas of Rome. It was, in effect, a pilgrimage substitute — Rome, for people who could not get to Rome. The route still climbs, and it is still free.

Geography

An isolated volcanic cone at the south-eastern edge of the Euganean Hills, where the last of the cones meets the flat plain — a position that commanded the road south from Padua toward Ferrara and the Po.

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History

Mons Silicis, the flint mountain, was fortified in antiquity and became a Lombard and then imperial stronghold on the road south from Padua. Frederick II built the summit keep in the thirteenth century; the Duodo family added the seven chapels in 1605.

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Culture

A Monday market, a patronal fair at the start of November, and a September palio with human chess — and, above the town, a Counter-Reformation pilgrimage route built by a Venetian architect for a Venetian family.

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How it was built and evolved over time

Trachyte, quarried from the hill the town is built against, and used for the keep on its summit as well as for paving across the Veneto.

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Climate patterns

A humid continental plain climate with hot summers — and an exposed south-facing climb that makes the difference between a pleasant walk and a hard one.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Monselice a day trip from Padua, or worth a night? A half-day is honest for the town itself — twenty minutes up, the chapels, the castle tour if its times suit. It earns a night mainly as a cheaper, quieter base than Padua for seeing the Euganean towns, with Este and Montagnana on the same railway line west.

Do I have to book the castle? Effectively yes. Ca’ Marcello is shown by guided tour only, at set times, with limited places, and its opening contracts in winter. It is the one thing here that cannot be improvised, so build the day around its tour time rather than hoping.

Are the seven chapels a church I go into? They are a route, not a building: seven small chapels along a paved road climbing the hill, built by Scamozzi between 1605 and 1615 and still used as a devotional way. Walking it is the point. It is free and always open.

Can I get to the top? Yes, but the keep on the summit is beyond the chapels on a rough path, and the ruin is unrailed in places. Add about ten minutes and suitable shoes, and think twice with small children or in the wet.

Is Villa Duodo open? No — it is passed on the way up and seen from the road rather than entered.

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