Tom`s travels: Este (19/03/2016)

I decided to visit the small town of Este, in the province of Padova, because of an exhibition on ancient chinese art called the States of Chu. Once we reached the town we parked our car and entered the city center on foot. We started by visiting the main square: Piazza Maggiore, which at that time was covered with market stalls. All around it are palaces dating from different centuries, the most interesting of which is the Palazzo degli Scaligeri, a medieval palace built in the 14th century. From there we walked over to the other large square of the town: Piazza Trento & Trieste with more nice palaces all around it. We then stopped at the Trattoria al Cavallino where we had a great lunch and filled our bellies before heading to the museum. After lunch we reached the museum where we saw the Chu exhibition first and then the Museo Nazionale Atestino which a large and very interesting collection of archaeological remains dating to preroman and roman eras; particularly nice where the roman mosaics and statutes. After the visit to the museum we entered the castle grounds which host a large and pretty public park. The sun was out and the first trees and plants were blossoming so it was quite nice to stroll around. I then walked up the hill to reach the highest point where the castle keep was located, although I then found out it was closed. I descended the other side of the hill an walked along the impressive fortified walls, exiting from the northern gate and siding the eastern defenses. From there we walked back into town and reached the Cathedral. Not particularly noteworthy, and having an incomplete facade, it features a nice painting by Tiepolo and a pretty bell tower. Walking some more we reached the southern part of the town's main square where the Civic Tower is located, not much further on we passed by the closed church of San Martino, the oldest in town that has a peculiar leaning bell tower. From the we headed back towards the car, having one last stop at the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie which had a mass going on so we just peered in quickly.