SHARRYLAND
Where is
What it is and where it is
A short walk from the city's main squares, stands an imposing and timid building: its beautiful facade enlivened by mullioned windows with different styles is hidden behind the large trees in the square in front of it. One glimpses, however, an inscription: Province of Padua. Well, yes, Palazzo Santo Stefano is the headquarters of this entity. Perhaps that is why so few people know that inside it some spaces have been dedicated to a museum. If you want to discover a real gem hidden in plain sight, you just have to go inside.
Why it is special
When you cross its threshold you are greeted by the grand staircase. It comes naturally to face it in silence, all the way to the Council Chamber and the Provincial Council Chamber. The latter is a late nineteenth-century masterpiece: mythological-themed frescoes flank the area's municipal coats of arms and illustrious Paduans, embellishing the discussions hosted by the wooden benches placed in the center. Perhaps the best thing about visiting these rooms, however, is the awareness of being inside these important halls and being part, if only for a few minutes, of their and the city's history.
Not to be missed
Returning to the ground floor, one encounters the passage to a basement: this space recounts an intervention carried out during the 1900s and the terrible memories it brings with it: it is a gas shelter with a capacity of 70 people, equipped with an ingenious pedal-operated electroventilation system. Before the heavy door, however, one passes through an exhibition space that, thanks to panels and memorabilia, recounts the era to which the bunker dates. But when you enter the cramped and dimly lit spaces, it is the strong suggestion and curiosity about the systems that are still preserved there that prevail.
A bit of history
In the 1800s the building housed a Benedictine women's monastery to be exact until it was decommissioned in 1810. The building over time underwent several changes to adapt it to the needs of the time, especially after 1866, when with the administrative unification, the current provinces were born and that of Padua bought the entire complex to meet the need for more space. In 1934 the gas shelter was built, and in 1944 it was the turn of the air raid shelter in the palace courtyard. Since 2019 inside some of the spaces of Palazzo Santo Stefano a museum has been set up.
Trivia
In front of Palazzo Santo Stefano is a medieval shrine. Every Paduan will proudly tell you that that is the tomb of the mythical founder of the city: Antenor, who fled from Troy together with Aeneas, who instead of stopping in Latium continued to our latitudes.
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