Description
The Casa Canonicale Petrarca, on Via Dietro Duomo in Padua, is the 12th-13th-century house where Francesco Petrarca lived as a canon of the Cathedral. It is a stop for anyone following the poet's footsteps in the city, a few steps from the Duomo.
From outside you can spot it thanks to a work by Kenny Random on the wall of the house next door. Inside, one room preserves 13th-century frescoes: a frieze of palms and lilies and a city wall with three towers.
Petrarch took possession of it in 1349: two floors, a vegetable garden and a well of cool water. He hosted friends arriving from Avignon here, and among his visitors was Giovanni Boccaccio.
In 1553 the works for the Duomo's new choir led to the demolition of the facade and of the poet's study. A 1927 plaque on the north side of the Cathedral recalls the house "nearby," but research by the historian Claudio Bellinati places it to the south.
From outside you can spot it thanks to a work by Kenny Random on the wall of the house next door. Inside, one room preserves 13th-century frescoes: a frieze of palms and lilies and a city wall with three towers.
Petrarch took possession of it in 1349: two floors, a vegetable garden and a well of cool water. He hosted friends arriving from Avignon here, and among his visitors was Giovanni Boccaccio.
In 1553 the works for the Duomo's new choir led to the demolition of the facade and of the poet's study. A 1927 plaque on the north side of the Cathedral recalls the house "nearby," but research by the historian Claudio Bellinati places it to the south.