Cittadella, a medieval village in the province of Padua (Veneto), is a true masterpiece of 13th century military engineering, in which the particular elliptical geometry of the walls meets rigorous urban planning. With its entirely passable patrol walkway, it represents a testimony of how Padua’s defensive architecture has been able to shape the landscape, thus achieving a profound balance between strategic function and visual harmony.
Talking about Cittadella is, without a doubt, a great opportunity to implement a multidisciplinary cognitive approach, in which engineering and architectural knowledge merge with historical and artistic knowledge. Certainly one of the primary elements to consider is the elliptical city wallwhich stands out for the preservation of the upper walkway, which is now entirely accessible at a height of 15 metres.
The walls (about 2.10 meters thick) are not made of solid stone, but were built using a technique that involves two external facings in bricks and river pebbles, filled inside with a cement mortar and aggregates. This structure made the walls elastic and resistant to the first artillery hits. Surprisingly, the walls rest on a shallow but very wide base, which unloads the weight evenly on the gravelly soil typical of the Venetian plain. The city walls, in total, measure 1461 metres: 12 main towers and 16 “torresini” are arranged at regular distances along the wall, crowned by a Guelph battlement.
All around the city there is, even today, a moat, used as a further protective and defensive system against attacks by enemies. Originally, the system was powered by the waters of the Brenta river. The ditch was not just a physical obstacle, but a feat of hydraulic engineering that regulated the drainage of the surrounding area.
Another interesting element from an architectural point of view certainly concerns the four doors which, not surprisingly, face the nerve centers of the entire area: Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, Bassano.
The Cardo and the Decumanus are the two main roads that intersect in a layout that facilitated the rapid movement of troops from the interior to any point of the city walls.
