Going back in history, we discover that the territory of Arquà has very ancient origins. Near the Lago della Costa, at the end of the 1800s, a prehistoric station dating back to the end of the Bronze Age was found, declared a World Heritage Site #UNESCO in 2011... #tuttitaly
Arquà Petrarca, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, was built in the Veneto region in ancient times. In the municipality's territory, the Laghetto della Costa, one of the pile-dwelling sites in Northern Italy, entered the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2011 with a village dating back to the Bronze Age.
Initially, the town was called Arquà, but with the annexation of the Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy in 1868, the name Petrarch was added to pay homage to the great poet who spent the last years of his life here.
To make you understand how enchanting the village is, I quote the words of Francesco Petrarca, who describes these places as follows: "Vast woods of chestnuts, walnuts, beeches, ash trees, oaks covered the slopes of Arquà, but it was above all the vines, the olive and the almond trees that helped to create the suggestive and typical Arquatense landscape."
The original village was founded starting from constructing a Castrum on the upper part of the current village, called Monte Castello. Subsequently, the entire town developed around the fortification.
In 1213, Arquà passed to the Municipality of Padua, and in 1322, during the clashes between Paduans and Scaligeri, the castle was set on fire and destroyed.
In 1364 Francesco Petrarca visited Arquà for the first time. The poet had health problems, so his friend Francesco il Vecchio da Carrara, lord of Padua, gave him land with a thirteenth-century house in Arquà. The building was renovated and adapted to the poet's needs, who personally followed the work.
So he moved there in 1370 and dedicated the last four years of his life to his art here.
After Petrarch's death, various owners succeeded one another and made some changes over the years, the most critical dating back to the mid-sixteenth century. The last owner, Cardinal Pietro Silvestri, donated the house to the Municipality of Padua in 1875 because it would no longer be used for residential purposes. The building was then transformed into a museum.
Typical product
In the small village, several shops offer the tasting of jujube broth, the most famous typical product of the area, with an amber-red color and the characteristic scent of jujubes. It has a sweet and fruity flavor with a rich and enveloping taste. It is much appreciated.
