Palazzo Bo

The Palazzo del Bo, commonly known as “the Bo”, is the historic seat of the University of Padua. The palace, the oldest parts of which date back to the 13th century, was given in 1405 by Francesco da Carrara to a meat merchant, then passed to the use of the Ateneo, which became its definitive owner in 1539 This unusual name is due to the fact that the building was built incorporating an old hotel, the Hospitium Bovis, which displayed an ox skull as a sign.

The University of Padua
It is impossible not to devote a few lines to the importance of the University of Padua. It is one of the most prestigious in Europe and the second founded in Italy, after Bologna. And it is precisely to the University of Bologna that it has been linked since its origins: the University of Padua was founded in 1222 thanks to the spontaneous transfer to the city of a group of students and professors of law from from Bologna.

From its foundation, the University of Padua has professed the ideal of Freedom as the cardinal principle of its raison d’être: it welcomes many foreign students, offers them decent accommodation and grants them loans at low interest rates. , and adopted Latin as the vehicular language so that the courses could be followed by everyone. Note that it was the first university in Europe to accept students of Jewish religion; in fact, it was the only university where professing the Catholic religion was not an entry criterion.

Visit the Bo Palace
For its historical and architectural value, Palazzo Bo deserves a visit during a stay in Padua. This is a guided tour that includes the Cortile Antico, the Aula Magna, Galileo Galilei’s chair in the Sala dei Quaranta, the “anatomical kitchen” and the Teatro Anatomico (the oldest permanent anatomical theater in the world) , the Medicine and Law rooms, and the statue of Elena Cornaro, the first woman to graduate in the world.