BASILICA OF SAINT ANTHONY IN PADUA
The name of this important building in Padua is "Basilica of Saint Anthony" or "Il Santo" for the Paduans; behind this "nickname" there is a story: Padua is called "the city of the three without" because there is a meadow without grass, a café without doors and the Saint without name, precisely the Basilica of Saint Anthony. The Chapel of Saint Anthony was built in 1500 by Tullio Lombardo; the walls show scenes and miracles from the life of the Saint. In the centre of the chapel there is the tomb of Saint Anthony, which the visitors use to touch because it is like a sign of devotion to the Saint.
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SCROVEGNI CHAPEL
It is a small church dedicated to Santa Maria della Carita in Padua and it is near a monastery, the Church of the Eremitani. It was a property of the Scrovegni family, a noble family of Padua, and it was built around the first years of the 14th century. Initially its purpose was to serve as the family's private oratory and as a funerary monument for Enrico Scrovegni and his wife. In 1305, the monks of the Church of the Eremitani protested that Scrovegni had not respected the original agreement, in fact Enrico was transforming his private oratory into a church with a bell tower.
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PEDROCCHI CAFE
The Pedrocchi Cafe is cafe founded in the 18th century in central Padua, Italy. The rooms were arranged by the architect Giuseppe Jappelli (1783 - 1852) and one of its particularities is that every room is decorated in diverse styles.The cafe became famous especially because the prices weren't expensive, even though the city was very luxurious, so you could eat regardless how much money you had. The owner, Francesco Pedrocchi, had a very peculiar way of treating his clients: anyone could sit at a table just to read a book or study, women were given flowers as gifts, and in case of rain, customers were lent an umbrella.
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ITALIAN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Every year Christmas is a point of light. Houses, streets and shops are illuminated by a lot of colourful lights. This helps us to remember that Christmas means "birth". If we want to feel alive, we don't have to run away from ourselves but accepts our falls and failures. Everyday we need to remind to ourselves that it takes courage to love life. In our opinion, Christmas is also a reason to be together with our families and feel less alone. Music is a very important thing for Christmas. Chiara Stella always sings "Tu scendi dalle stelle". The song talks about the Christ Child that comes down from the stars.
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At Christmas dinner we traditionally do an aperitiv that consist of wine and some cured meats, then we eat lasagna and a roast, there is not a single traditional meal, so every family does whatever it wants. We celebrated Christmas with all our relatives, we ate more or less the same dishes as now, but we also ate the capon. We celebrated all day and enjoyed being together. But, as a dessert, we usually eat nougat, a pandoro, which is a leavened cake that comes from Verona, a panettone, which is similar to the pandoro, but it contains candied fruit or pinza, a holiday cornmeal cake from Veneto (recipe).
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