Este

One of the most significant walled cities in the Veneto region

In the suggestive landscape of the Euganean hills, Este was the main settlement of the ancient Venetians who lived here during the Iron Age. This once fortified city still has traces of the Este and Carraresi families who were rulers of this area.

Today, the walls are home to a lovely public garden and The National Atestino Museum is housed in the adjacent Mocenigo Building, one of the most important in Italy for its pre-Roman collections. The ruins of the Tower Bridge Fortress are the remains of forts designed to defend the city, while the Civic Tower of the Old Port was rebuilt around 1500.

The almost four centuries of Venetian rule can be seen in the beautiful buildings of the central Piazza (including the Town Hall, an elegant open gallery building, and the Scaliger family Building from the fourteenth century) and the beautiful villas. Among the many religious buildings, there is the Duomo of Saint Tecla that houses the mortal remains of Beatrice d'Este and the great altarpiece by Tiepolo that depicts Saint Tecla. The Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie with its peculiar Latin cross plan and the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione, structured on a single nave and with a mosaic floor from the Roman period are worth visiting.

Today the town of Este is an important center of production of high-quality art pottery. This production has continued almost without interruption from prehistorical times to the present.

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