Musei Civici agli Eremitani

Padua's Eremitani Civic Museums occupy the cloisters of the former Eremitani convent. The archaeological and medieval-and-modern art collections bring the city's ancient settlement and later artistic history into a shared institutional setting.

Why it matters

The museums developed from collections assembled through religious suppressions, civic acquisitions and private collecting. Their history shows how objects once dispersed among monasteries and households became part of Padua's public cultural inheritance.

What to notice

Archaeological holdings include material from the ancient Veneti and Roman Patavium, alongside Greek ceramics and Egyptian objects. The art collection follows painting from the fourteenth century through later Venetian and Paduan traditions. The arcaded cloisters provide an architectural reminder of the site's earlier monastic life.

Context and history

The suppression of San Giovanni da Verdara in 1783 and other religious houses in 1810 contributed to the early collections. In 1825 Giuseppe Furlanetto arranged a lapidary display in the Palazzo della Ragione. Andrea Gloria subsequently helped expand the city's holdings. The later move to the Eremitani convent gave the collections their present historic home near the Scrovegni Chapel.