Mura di Cittadella e Camminamento di Ronda

Cittadella's thirteenth-century defensive walls form an elliptical ring around the town, with towers, four gates and a medieval guard walkway built into the masonry.

Why it matters

Padua founded Cittadella in 1220 to defend its territory against Treviso and Vicenza. The wall circuit, about 1,461 metres long, averages fifteen metres in height and roughly 2.10 metres in thickness. It includes four principal gate towers, twelve towers and sixteen smaller turrets. A twenty-year restoration culminated in the reopening of the parapet walkway in 2013, making the defensive system unusually complete.

What to notice

The four gates face Padua, Bassano, Vicenza and Treviso. Thirty-two towers punctuate the elliptical wall, while the medieval street grid remains visible within it. The Torre di Malta, built by Ezzelino III da Romano in 1251, was a prison and now houses civic collections. Reconstructed and frescoed rooms at the Casa del Capitano preserve another layer of the defensive complex.

Context and history

Construction of the walls began with the town in 1220. Ezzelino da Romano controlled Cittadella from 1237 to 1256; the Carraresi later made it a district capital, and Venice took control in 1406. The masonry survived largely intact. The medieval guard walkway fell out of use before a restoration campaign funded by public and private bodies returned the circuit to use in 2013.