Battaglia Terme

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comune di Battaglia Terme
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Veneto
Province	Padua (PD)
Mayor

Elevation	11 m
Area	6 km²
Population
- Total (as of 2001)	4,128
- Density	688/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	45°18′N, 11°47′E
Gentilic	Battagliensi
Dialing code	049
Postal code	35041

Patron	St. James
- Day	June 25
Website: www.comune.battaglia-terme.pd.it

Battaglia Terme is a town in the Veneto region of Italy, in the province of Padua.

Battaglia lies at the easternmost edge of the volcanic Euganean Hills, and has been noted for its warm saline springs and natural vapour grotto since the Middle Ages.

[edit] History

The construction of the navigable Battaglia canal in the early 13th century brought traffic and growth to the commune which commanded a central position at the confluence of several canals in the network of barge traffic that linked Este and Padua, the Adriatic, the Lagoon of Venice and the north by means of the Brenta Canal, the canalized Bacchiglione and the Adige.

[edit] Main sights

The palatial Villa Selvatico was erected in the mid-17th century by Marchese Benedetto Selvatico, the owner of the mineral springs.

The dominant feature of the town is the high monumental enclosed block of the Castello del Catajo at the edge of the town, which had its origins in a simple villa that was rebuilt and extravagantly enlarged in the manner of a feudal castle from 1570 onwards by Marchese Pio Enea I degli Obizzi, a member of a literary family well-known in Ferrara and Padua [1]; it contains a vast cycle of historical battle scenes frescoed in 1571–2 by Giambattista Zelotti (1525–1578) a pupil of Paolo Veronese; he began with Roman times and culminated in the military triumphs of Pio Enea degli Obizzi, which were recreated in the gardens with tourneys and spectacles. His nephew Pio Enea II enlarged the complex with the grand entrance courtyard, announced by sculptures on high drum pedestals, which is dominated by the Baroque "Elephant" fountain. In the 19th century the Castello's collections were enriched by the last of the Obizzi with coins and medals, musical instruments and paintings. The complex was inherited by Karl I, the last Emperor of Austro-Hungary, and was sequestered as war reparations by the Italian State, which sold it in 1926 to the Dalla Francesca family, who currently open it to the public.

Nearby, the baroque Villa Emo-Capodilista dominates a steeply-terraced site with its dome rising over its central pediment [2].