Italian Padova ancient Patavium
City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 203,350), northern Italy.
Legend holds that it was founded by the Trojan hero Antenor. First mentioned in 302 BC, it prospered as a Roman city and was under Lombard rule in the 7th8th centuries. A leading Italian commune in the 11th13th centuries, control of Padua then passed to Venice from 1405 to 1797. Under Austrian rule (181566) the city was active in the Risorgimento (movement for Italian independence). Padua was heavily bombed in World War II but was rebuilt. Its historic buildings contain works by many artists, including Giotto , Titian , Donatello , and Mantegna . The University of Padua (1222), the second oldest in Italy (after Bologna), had Galileo among its teachers and Dante , Petrarch , and Tasso among its students. Padua's botanical garden (1545) is the oldest in Europe. The city is now a commercial and industrial centre.