Description
Piazza della Frutta (or «delle Frutta», as the historic sign says) is the market square on the north side of Palazzo della Ragione, in the centre of Padua. Every morning it fills with fruit and vegetable stalls, as it has since the end of the 12th century.
With neighbouring Piazza delle Erbe it has been the city's commercial centre for centuries, and together they host one of the largest markets in Italy. Above the stalls rise the bulk of Palazzo della Ragione and the Torre degli Anziani.
In the middle stands the medieval Colonna del Peronio. Its capital has a pumpkin, a palm, a quince and a pear tree at the corners; on top, a small obelisk in Istrian stone with the city's coat of arms, St Prosdocimus and an old weathervane.
The name perhaps comes from the «perones», the leather shoes sold nearby. The column perhaps held up an awning or marked where to set up the stalls. For almost a century it was moved to Prato della Valle, and only came back to its place in the mid-1990s.
Each staircase of Palazzo della Ragione took its name from what was sold at its foot: the Scala dei Osei, of the birds, for poultry and game, and the Scala dee Erbe for fruit and vegetables. At the corner of the palace, in the Canton dee Busie, the corner of lies, the old Paduan measures are carved in stone, to expose dishonest sellers.
On the first Thursday of May, the «zoba masa», the guild of the strazzaroli, the second-hand dealers, set up the greasy pole here. The prizes were a purse and a pair of gloves, and the festival was called «of the Purse»: a marble purse still recalls it on the building at the corner of Via Marsilio da Padova and Via Gorizia.
Some of the city's oldest shops look onto the square, such as the apothecary «Ai due catini d'oro», already open in the 18th century under the loggia of Palazzo del Consiglio. Here, in 1984, the secretary of the Italian Communist Party, Enrico Berlinguer, suffered a stroke during a rally: he died four days later.
With neighbouring Piazza delle Erbe it has been the city's commercial centre for centuries, and together they host one of the largest markets in Italy. Above the stalls rise the bulk of Palazzo della Ragione and the Torre degli Anziani.
In the middle stands the medieval Colonna del Peronio. Its capital has a pumpkin, a palm, a quince and a pear tree at the corners; on top, a small obelisk in Istrian stone with the city's coat of arms, St Prosdocimus and an old weathervane.
The name perhaps comes from the «perones», the leather shoes sold nearby. The column perhaps held up an awning or marked where to set up the stalls. For almost a century it was moved to Prato della Valle, and only came back to its place in the mid-1990s.
Each staircase of Palazzo della Ragione took its name from what was sold at its foot: the Scala dei Osei, of the birds, for poultry and game, and the Scala dee Erbe for fruit and vegetables. At the corner of the palace, in the Canton dee Busie, the corner of lies, the old Paduan measures are carved in stone, to expose dishonest sellers.
On the first Thursday of May, the «zoba masa», the guild of the strazzaroli, the second-hand dealers, set up the greasy pole here. The prizes were a purse and a pair of gloves, and the festival was called «of the Purse»: a marble purse still recalls it on the building at the corner of Via Marsilio da Padova and Via Gorizia.
Some of the city's oldest shops look onto the square, such as the apothecary «Ai due catini d'oro», already open in the 18th century under the loggia of Palazzo del Consiglio. Here, in 1984, the secretary of the Italian Communist Party, Enrico Berlinguer, suffered a stroke during a rally: he died four days later.