Palazzo della Ragione
Palazzo della Ragione
4.5
Historic SitesArchitectural BuildingsGovernment Buildings
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
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  • Julia H
    25 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Stunning frescoes, roof and horse
    We had walked past this palace a number of times during our visit to Padua and decided to visit. The entrance fee was really cheap - €5 each for seniors like us. Inside was breathtaking. It is a huge hall with frescoes on all 4 sides, a beautiful wooden ceiling/roof, Foucault's pendulum and an enormous wooden horse on a pedestal. There were information points inside and an english version was available. The science behind the pendulum was explained but I only just squeaked my O level maths!!
    Visited April 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written April 9, 2023
  • liverpool1023
    London, United Kingdom896 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must not be missed
    The upper floor comprises a large guild hall. The outer loggia is nicely frescoes with floral motifs. The huge interior space allows you to see city guild animal and heraldic motifs and religious imagery. The only feature of the interior is a stunning wooden horse that dates from the 1400’s and look more like a contemporary piece of art.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written June 20, 2023
  • JJJC_Family
    810 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A great building in a great city
    This is my second time visiting this impressive space and a testimony to its grip on my imagination is how fervently and vividly I remember it, which is only occasional in my extensive travels. I even remember how hard it was to figure out how to simply get upstairs to see the grand room, although not remembering precisely how to do it. In fact, we approached the project the same exact way and went through the same exact steps, the worst way until we broke down and went into a store begging for help, as we did the first time. That ate up ten minutes, right there. My wife and I both had to laugh. When we got upstairs to the grand hall, maybe a football field or more in length and perhaps 100’ across, you have the same sense of awe and delight. It’s completely empty except for a handful of benches along the wall and a very large wooden horse and something that looks like a planter but has no hole to put in plants The entire length and width of the walls are covered with a sort of monstrous fresco of portraits, animals and all types of other images, some bigger, some smaller. I spend probably an hour just walking around over and over trying to absorb it all and there are so many of them that’s hard to do. You get a headache after a while trying. But I love the place so I do it, anyway. The ceiling is also amazing. It’s all wood and it curves in fro both sides to meet in the middle, a sort of pointed arch. It’s really neat. There are some windows along the bottom of the long walls and even some punched into the ceiling. There’s a tiny little room on one side and I can’t remember what’s in it. Outside, on the upper level is an arcade/loggia that runs the entire side of the building. Strangely, neither time visiting did I walk the length of it, probably due to time constraints. It’s also neat. On the ground floor shops line an interior corridor and I think even the outside. It’s just a neat, fun building and I really do love it. It’s actually the place I think of and again truly remember when I think of Padua, even more than the incredible baptistry. If you visit Padua, you must see it and you really should see Padua, especially if you go to Venice, which is only a half hour away. Padua has a quite a few high quality things to see and in my opinion is not given enough consideration as even a secondary visit contender. We used it both times we visited it as primarily a base for seeing Venice as it is an inexpensive place to get a decent hotel, has decent restaurants, again more than enough to see in case you don’t feel like taking even the short train ride to Venice one day or two and it’s a fun place just to walk around. Oh and we are told it has one of the best hospitals in Italy, in case you need one. And we often do. So go see the Palazzo della Ragione and the rest that this great city has to offer. You won’t regret it.
    Visited April 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 18, 2023
  • puddleduck2
    Durham, United Kingdom1,666 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth a visit
    The ground floor has a fantastic food hall with a buzzing atmosphere. The large hall upstairs is a wonder. It’s empty apart from a simple huge horse sculpture at one end. The ceiling is amazing and the large walkway huge you great views if the piazza below.
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 18, 2023
  • Kjellaug T
    Sandnes, Norway278 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful old market hall
    Beautiful old market hall. Looked big on the outside, but even bigger being on the inside. Can just imagine the different marked stalls - picures on the wall for the different ones - so yes, pretty amazing.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written October 29, 2023
  • ANGELO V
    Milan, Italy2,939 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Medieval town hall & market
    A medieval market hall, town hall and palace of justice building, Palazzo della Ragione is one of the largest medieval halls still extant. It was begun in 1172 and completed in 1219. The ground floor has hosted the market hall of the city for over 800 years, and the upper floor was divided into three spaces until 1420, when the current great hall was formed. All four walls of the great hall are covered with more than three hundred different scenes that were frescoed between 1425 and 1440 by Nicolò Miretto and Stefano da Ferrara. A wooden horse inside the Great Hall was built in 1466 and modelled on Donatello's Equestrian statue of Gattamelata. Palazzo della Ragione is part since 2021 of Padua's fourteenth-century fresco cycles, with Scrovegni Chapel, Church of the Eremitani, Chapel of the Carraresi Palace, Cathedral Baptistery, Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony, Oratory of St. George, Oratory of St.Michael. A cumulative ticket called “Urbis Picta” (painted town) is available to visit all the UNESCO sites in Padova.
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled solo
    Written February 28, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Denny S
Gothenburg, Sweden184 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021
This is a spectacular building also called "il Salone", it served as the city court/market hall in the Middle Ages and it still serves as a place of trade because the ground floor hosts, since 800 years ago, the historical covered market of the city, the "Sotto il Salone". It's likely to be the oldest market in the European Union. The upper storey is surrounded by an open loggia by Palladio. The interior consists of the largest medieval hall that exists today. The whole room is covered with frescoes with mainly astrological motives. The fresco cycles inside the palace were recently selected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Written October 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dgd
Lincolnshire, UK294 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022
The very large hall with 330 frescoes and Trojan horse that was later used in a play. Quite stunning and will excite the senses. The ships keel roof must be one of the largest that is unsupported. So much to admire, skill and majestic. A real treasure in Oadova
Written February 11, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Vlaho L
Dubrovnik, Croatia15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2021
A must-see in Padua, so visit this spectacular building positioned between the Piazza della Frutta and Piazza delle Erbe, which served as the city court but still for more than 800 years as a covered market, the oldest in Europe. Take a seat a browse the many, many ... frescoes around you and enjoy this unique interior surrounding. If you're there in the morning, lower yourself to the market and focus your view on Italy's finest of food, cheese, pasta, salami ... and enjoy a great local meal at pasta shop inside the market.
Written November 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Julia H
25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Couples
We had walked past this palace a number of times during our visit to Padua and decided to visit. The entrance fee was really cheap - €5 each for seniors like us. Inside was breathtaking. It is a huge hall with frescoes on all 4 sides, a beautiful wooden ceiling/roof, Foucault's pendulum and an enormous wooden horse on a pedestal. There were information points inside and an english version was available. The science behind the pendulum was explained but I only just squeaked my O level maths!!
Written April 9, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

liverpool1023
London, UK896 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023 • Couples
The upper floor comprises a large guild hall. The outer loggia is nicely frescoes with floral motifs. The huge interior space allows you to see city guild animal and heraldic motifs and religious imagery. The only feature of the interior is a stunning wooden horse that dates from the 1400’s and look more like a contemporary piece of art.
Written June 20, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

puddleduck2
Durham, UK1,666 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
The ground floor has a fantastic food hall with a buzzing atmosphere.
The large hall upstairs is a wonder. It’s empty apart from a simple huge horse sculpture at one end. The ceiling is amazing and the large walkway huge you great views if the piazza below.
Written October 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kjellaug T
Sandnes, Norway278 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Solo
Beautiful old market hall. Looked big on the outside, but even bigger being on the inside. Can just imagine the different marked stalls - picures on the wall for the different ones - so yes, pretty amazing.
Written October 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Normanta
London, UK530 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Business
The ground level arcades of the 13th century Palazzo dell Ragione are filled with food stalls – mainly butchers as far as I could see. The splendid gallery or loggia looks down over the market stalls on the piazza but to get up there involves a challenging set of steps. The day of my visit there was a dental manufacturer’s conference taking place so that visitors were restricted. I thought there was an impassioned political speech going on inside but it was simply some guy making a presentation that featured coloured slides of assorted teeth, gums and cavities. But the Salone or Great Hall in which this was taking place certainly meets that definition with a length of over 80 metres and over 20 metres wide. There are fine set of frescoes around the walls.
I’m glad I tackled the steps.
Written June 13, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Frank Geisler 🇨🇭
Zurich, Switzerland13,258 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2017 • Family
You can't miss this impressive building in the historical center of Padua - and you shouldn't!

It separates at least two main squares and markets which were and still are very busy and highly frequented by traders of fruits (on the North) and herbs (on the South).

Entrance fees are more than reasonable and it's definitely worth a visit.
Written July 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

esandespdx
Portland, OR170 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2014 • Couples
Head to this spot in the historic center of the city not only to admire the building and art, but to visit one of the best food markets in Italy. The Palazzo della Ragione house several arcades of food markets, flanked by the two outdoor markets -- Piazza delle Erbe and Pazza dei Frutti -- offering the finest fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses you'll ever see. A visit will make you want to rent an apartment in Padova just to shop here and cook your meals from what you buy at the market.
Written February 15, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Palazzo della Ragione, Padua

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