Montagnana

A medieval walled city. Straddling three provinces in the fertile alluvial countryside that was once the bed of the Adige River, the capital of Sculdascia is universally famous for its splendid and perfectly preserved medieval city walls.

These walls and castles did not rise by chance in that remote countryside but have their origins in a unique and fascinating combination of geographical and historical factors.
An ancient history.
The most substantial archaeological evidence dates back to the 10th – 8th century BC (Bronze Age). In what was the largest of the mounds, an important town developed, connected to the House of Este, and it allied itself with the Romans under the name Motta AEniana.
The town, presumably already fortified and entirely surrounded by the river, perhaps even a proper military fort (castrum), became an important crossroads and crossing on the Adige River along the Via Emilia Altinate, also known as the Via Annia (175 BC).
In the 11th century, there is evidence of a fortified wall strengthened with wooden towers (‘bertesche’ towers) surrounded by a wide moat. In the following century, a lively village developed that required settlements outside the walls. In the mid-13th century, it witnessed the siege by Ezzelino, which ended with a great fire and the almost total destruction of the buildings but also saw the construction of the imposing keep of Castel Zeno, intended exclusively for military purposes. When it returned to the control of the Municipality of Padua, in 1275, an important military garrison was established, and the castle of San Zeno was expanded, along with the construction of a partial wall that surrounded the village.
The wall was completed by the Carraresi in 1362, and as a key element of the military structure, the Rocca degli Alberi was built, facing the belligerent castle of Bevilacqua, which was held by the Scaligeri.