Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch, 1304-1374) — the father of Humanism, inventor of the sonnet sequence, the first modern poet — spent his last years in Arquà, a village in the Euganean Hills south of Padova. His house (Casa del Petrarca, 14th century) survives with frescoed rooms depicting his works, and his marble sarcophagus sits on a pedestal in the churchyard, where it has been since 1380. The village itself is a medieval gem: stone houses climbing a hillside of olive groves and vineyards, with the Euganean Hills (volcanic, covered in chestnut forests, dotted with thermal springs) rising around it. The Festa delle Giuggiole (jujube fruit festival, October) celebrates the local jujube trees — the fruit, which grows nowhere else in Italy in such quantities, is made into brodo di giuggiole (a sweet liqueur that gives the Italian expression "andare in brodo di giuggiole" — to be ecstatic). Veneto →
Plan my Veneto trip →Casa del Petrarca: The poet's 14th-century house — frescoed rooms (16th-century cycles illustrating Petrarch's works), his study, his library niche. The cat (Petrarch reportedly mummified his beloved cat — a mummy attributed to the cat is displayed). €5. Tomba del Petrarca: Red marble sarcophagus on a pedestal in the churchyard of Santa Maria Assunta — Petrarch was buried here in 1374 and the tomb has been a literary pilgrimage site for 650 years. The village: Two medieval nuclei (Arquà di Sopra and Arquà di Sotto) connected by a lane through olive groves. Stone houses, Gothic-Romanesque church, the Fontana del Petrarca (fountain). The Euganean Hills: Volcanic hills with walking trails, vineyards (Moscato dei Colli Euganei, Cabernet), and monasteries.
Getting there: car from Padova (30min), Abano Terme (15min), Venice (1h). Bus from Este (10min). Stay: €50-80/night. Eat: La Montanella (€25-35 — Euganean hill cuisine, giuggiole desserts in season). Festa delle Giuggiole (October): Market, tastings, brodo di giuggiole. Combine with: Abano/Montegrotto thermal spas (15min), Este (10min — Museo Nazionale Atestino, pre-Roman Veneti), Padova (30min — Scrovegni Chapel), Monselice (10min — castle complex).