Elegant Padova -- known in English as Padua -- is home to an ancient university, a Basilica that is an important centre for pilgrims and a chapel containing one of the world’s greatest art treasures. Use this website to help you plan a visit to this fascinating northern Italian city and find your way to the other beautiful towns and villages in the Veneto that are perhaps less well known to tourists.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Villa Giusti Padova

Armistice talks were held at Padova villa

A villa just outside Padova was the location for the signing of the armistice between Italy and Austria-Hungary that ended the first world war on the Italian front in 1918.
After the Allied troops were victorious in the battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Austria-Hungary commanding officers had asked for a ceasefire and for peace talks.
Caffe Pedrocchi in the centre of Padova houses a
Risorgimento and contemporary history museum

They were invited to Villa Giusti at Mandria just outside Padova, which was owned by Count Giusti del Giardino, a former mayor of Padova and an Italian senator.
During the war, the villa had been the temporary residence of King Victor Emanuel III when he was away from the front.
The armistice signed on 3 November ended the fighting and was seen by many Italians as the final phase of the Risorgimento, a movement started in 1815 to unify Italy. The bells of a nearby church rang out when news came from the villa that the armistice had been agreed.
Villa Giusti in Via Armistizio, Mandria, is just outside Padova. Guided visits can be made to the villa by arrangement. The furniture in the room where negotiations were conducted remains just as it was on that day. Visitors can even see the round table on which the armistice was signed. Tel: +39 049 867 0492.
Two separate towns in the Veneto region, Ceneda and Serravalle, were merged and renamed Vittorio in 1866 in honour of King Vittorio Emanuele II. After the last, decisive battle in the First World War had taken place nearby, the city was renamed Vittorio Veneto. Franco Zeffirelli shot some of the scenes for his film version of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of 15th century buildings in Seravalle.
Inside the Caffe Pedrocchi in the centre of Padova there is a museum with exhibits demonstrating Italy's struggle for independence through the Risorgimento and the two world wars. Il Museo del Risorgimento is open daily. For more details visit  www.caffepedrocchi.it