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monselice |
| Served by nine daily trains from Padua, the attractive town of
MONSÉLICE is far more accessible than the villages nearer to the city.
In earlier times it perched on the pimple of volcanic rock round the
base of which it now winds, and you pass through the remnants of its
defensive walls on your way from the train station to the central Piazza
Mazzini. A little way beyond the square stands Monsélice's main sight -
the Castello di Ezzelino , or Ca' Marcello (guided tours only: April-Nov
Tues-Sun 9am, 10am, 11am, 3pm & 4pm; L10,000/¬5.16). Dating back to the
eleventh century, the house was expanded in the thirteenth century by
Ezzelino da Romano, who added the square tower across the courtyard. The
interior was altered by the Da Carraras in the fourteenth century, and
linking the two main sections is a fifteenth-century bit added by the
Marcello family. The castle's immaculate appearance is down to Count
Vittorio Cini, who inherited the derelict building after it had been in
the tender care of the army during World War I and sank a fortune into
restoring it and furnishing each section in the appropriate style. The Duomo Vecchio , higher up the hill, retains fourteenth-century fresco fragments and has a Romano-Gothic polyptych on the high altar. Just beyond it, a gateway guarded by two Venetian lions gives onto the Via Sette Chiese, a private road leading up to the Villa Duodo . The seven churches of the road's name are a small-scale version of the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome, arranged as a line of chapels leading up to the church of San Giorgio at the top. Sinners could earn forgiveness by praying their way up to San Giorgio, where rows of martyred saints are arranged in wood and glass cabinets. However, it's not possible to go up the steps to the Rocca - Ezzelino's citadel - as it's currently undergoing restoration, although it may be open to the public when the work is finished. The tourist office is on Piazza Mazzini (Mon-Sat 10am-12.30pm & 3-6pm, Sun 10am-1pm & 3-6pm; tel 0429.783.026). If you want to stay , there's a superb new youth hostel in a sixteenth-century palace at the far end of via San Stefano (tel 0429.783.125, ostellomonselice@libero.it ; L35,000/¬18.07) or try the two-star Cavallino , Via Petrarca 2 (tel 0429.72.242; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), or the three-star Ceffri , Via Orti 7 (tel 0429.783.111; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47). The best option for eating is the trattoria-pizzeria Al Campiello , at Riviera G.B. Belzoni 2 (closed Wed). |