Padua

A romantic warren of arcaded streets, Padua has long been one of the major cultural centers of northern Italy. It's home to Italy's second-oldest university, founded in 1222, which attracted such cultural icons as Dante (1265-1321), Petrarch (1304-74), and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), thus earning the city the sobriquet La Dotta (The Learned). Padua's Basilica di Sant'Antonio, begun around 1238, is dedicated to Saint Anthony, and it attracts droves of pilgrims. Great artists left significant works in Padua, with Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel one of the best-known, and most meticulously preserved, works of art in the country.