Padova: Palazzo del Bo

“UNIVERSA UNIVERSIS PATAVINA LIBERTAS”
( Translated from Latin by AI: "Paduan freedom is universal for everyone," or "Liberty of Padua, universally and for all” … highlighting the university's historical dedication to freedom of thought and expression in study and teaching.)

On weekends and holidays, when there are no classes at the Università di Padova, one can access areas of Palazzo del Bo — the university seat — that are not otherwise accessible.

With that in mind, we changed our departure plans, booked ourselves on a later train back to Bologna, and reserved two spots for the 11:30a guided tour … “Palazzo Bo & Gio Ponti’s ‘900.”

With our bags secured at an all-day storage facility, we headed to Palazzo del Bo well before our tour so I could take photos of the courtyards before the daily influx of visitors. I managed to do so to the rousing lyrics of “Bella Ciao” … the song of the Italian partisans … being sung in the square outside in celebration of Italy’s liberation from fascism and Nazi occupation in 1945.

Teaching at this university was initially scattered around Padova. In the early 16th century, the separate locations were gathered together at Palazzo del Bo, located near a street traditionally lined with butcher shops. In fact, the palace’s name was derived from the sign of the famous “Hospitium Bovis” … which translates as “Ox Inn.”

The complex consists of structures across several blocks that were converted for university use. The current form of the university dates back to 1938-1942 when additional buildings and what is known as the new courtyard were added. The decor and furnishings of this section are the work of Gio Ponti, a famous architect of the time. Hence the name of today’s tour.

Our guide was a lovely young woman, whom we met “by the Italian flag” in the new courtyard … the starting point of today’s tour. Our group consisted of 9 people with 4 last-minute additions … a nice size.

She started out by telling us that its founding in 1222, puts this institution in the #2 position of the oldest universities of Italy — behind the University of Bologna — and makes it one of the oldest in the world. Thus ending the debate of the Bologna vs Padova ranking,

She then pointed out several things in the courtyard — Gio’s “Spiral to Galileo Galilei” … dedicated to his astronomical research during the 18 years that he taught at the university; Kounellis’s “Resistance and Liberation” … the streamlined top half representing the post liberation calmness … founded on the chaos of resistance (bottom half); and the bas relief of students as soldiers during WWI … the death of which during that war resulted in the university becoming the only one in Italy that was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor.

Our next stop took us to the “Atrium of Heroes” at the entrance to the new courtyard … home to the wall of honor and the Palinuro statue … the latter dedicated to the partisan commander Visentin, a university graduate who died during the resistance movement.

Then it was time to walk up the monumental “Stairway to Knowledge,” which consists of different colored marble risers that Gio Ponti felt would bring a brightness to the space. The marble also coordinates with the colors of the frescos on the walls, which “… depict the ‘Allegory of the Growing of the Human Race through Culture’. … the development of knowledge from basic human existence to advanced science, symbolizing the university student's journey.”

At the top of the stairs, we walked through the “Rector’s Gallery” to the salon that was an area once dedicated to the association of professors … every detail designed by Ponti and full of symbolism. The glass-topped table in the reading room, where the professors drank their coffee while reading, was especially interesting to me … it incorporated a large cubby under the glass at each chair where books could be placed for reading so that they would not be marred by any spills from cups.

Next came the “Archive” … currently housing the student archives from 1805 to 1866, including exam papers. From this room, we entered the “College Hall” … what remains of the experimental physics theater … the walls frescoed with scenes celebrating the university’s political history.

A door from the College Hall led us to the original part of Palazzo del Bo, which we entered from the ‘WOW-inducing’ “Aula Magna” (aka the Great Hall) with its ornate ceiling … and walls decorated with coats of arms of teachers and students.

Next up was the “Hall of the Forty” … so named for the portraits of the university’s famous non-Padovano students from the period between the 13th and 19th centuries. The centerpiece of the room was the rostrum from which it is said that Galileo lectured to students. There’s also a relic — a section of his vertebra — stolen after his body was exhumed for the transfer to Florence where he was reburied. It was later gifted to the university. (Google it!)

From the upper loggia, we passed to the other side of Palazzo del Bo and entered the “Anatomy Kitchen” and the “Anatomy Theater”. The Kitchen was where bodies were prepped for dissection … and where later the bodies were boiled to remove the flesh from the bones.

As preservation requirements no longer allow entrance into the fragile Anatomy Theater that dates back to 1594, a scale model stands in the center of the kitchen. What can I say … just WOW!

After the introductory briefing our guide gave us while standing around the model, we entered the claustrophobia-inducingly-small dissecting room to look up through the opening to the concentric oval tiers where the students would stand (barely wide enough to turn) to watch the dissection, returning day after day for a process that usually took about a week … OMG, the stench must have been horrible … even if the body was several tiers below them.

It was interesting to hear that there were only two ‘legal’ dissections per year … meaning that the body was provided through legitimate channels. Anecdotally, other bodies were illegally exhumed from cemeteries and brought to the theater for dissection … something that the authorities turned a blind eye to since two dissections were not nearly enough for teaching purposes.

Another anecdotal tidbit from our guide … if the dissection contradicted what was in written texts, the latter was still taken as gospel.

Our tour continued to the adjacent Medicine Hall … where students attended theoretic classes. Today, the room is used only for students to defend their dissertations and for medical school graduation ceremonies.

Taking a staircase down to the ancient courtyard, we concluded the tour at a statue at the base of the stairs … of Elena Lucretia Cornaro Piscopia … she was the world’s first female graduate. She wasn’t allowed to take her degree in theology — considered a man’s field — she was awarded a degree in philosophy at the Padova University … in the year 1678.

A fascinating and insightful tour!

The plan was to have lunch after the tour and then take the train back to Bologna. At least that was the plan when we didn’t realize that today is such an important day in Italian history. Restaurants, cafés, trattorias, osterias … you name it … they were all packed. In the end, we decided to rebook our rebooked tickets to an even earlier train and have a late lunch in Bologna! Hah!

The train ride was uneventful — about 1.5 hours on the regional train. The early afternoon hour ensured light bookings, so we had a four-seat-face-to-face group of seats to ourselves. Even the bus ride from Bologna Centrale to the apartment was uneventful … we found seats immediately. However, the streets were packed with people and the eateries we passed on the way home were filled. An early dinner at home now became the new plan.

Thus, we wrapped up our first multi-day getaway since becoming expats in Italy. We’ll be home for a week to prepare for our next getaway … stay tuned.

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P.S. Re: luggage storage facilities … there are tons of these places all over Italian cities (at least the larger ones) … the service usually offered by small businesses; standard fee seems to be €5/bag. We opted for a place near the train station since that would be our eventual destination.Read more