Province of Padua

The province of Padua (Italian: provincia di Padova) is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua.

It has an area of 2,142 km², and a total population of 936,492 (2016) making it the most populated province of Veneto. There are 102 comuni in the province.

The territory is usually divided in the capital city, Padua, and its hinterland, formed by the nearby municipalities; the alta pianura ("higher plain"), north of the city; the bassa pianura ("lower plain"), south of the city, including the Saccisica in the south-east; and the Colli Euganei ("Euganei hills") south-west of the city. The Euganei hills are the only heights of the entire province, the other parts being totally plain.

The borders of the province are almost the same of the Medieval commune of Padua, with just some adjustment in the north-east. The territory was administered within these boundaries since the time of the Republic of Venice, but the modern province comes directly from the administrative divisions of Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. The Diocese of Padua covers the most part of the province, out of a main part of alta pianura; instead it includes areas from the surrounding provinces.

Padua is home to some masterpieces from Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture, while the towns of Cittadella and Montagnana are known for the well preserved Medieval city walls. There are numerous villas in the countryside, a few of them from Palladio, the main ones being Villa Contarini (in Piazzola sul Brenta) and Villa Barbarigo (in Valsanzibio). The Euganei hills offer a relaxing naturalistic site, often covered in woods, while at their eastern slopes there are many ancient spa sites: the Terme Euganee, as Abano Terme, Montegrotto Terme, Galzignano Terme, Battaglia Terme. There is a small part of the Venetian Lagoon lying inside the province, the Valle Millecampi ("one-thousand-fields valley"); and also the river landscapes of the countryside include naturalistic routes, even for cycling or horse-riding. Travelling by boat is possible as well.

The most part of the province has a temperate sub-continental climate for the Köppen climate classification Cfa); only part of the Colli Euganei have a milder climate, because their southern slopes are above the thermal inversion line by winter, and exposed to the Sun all the year: which allows them to cultivate small olive trees.

The winter is usually moderately cold in the province, avoiding both warm and cold extremes; frost is very common at plain (below the thermal inversion line) with about 60–70 frost days a year, and temperatures usually do not get lower than −8/−12 °C in the plains during the year; but the all-times record for Padua is −19.2 °C by January 1985. The lower plain is slightly colder than the higher plain; snowfalls are highly variable from year to year, and one could see winters with almost no snow as years with frequent snowfalls (Padua has a century average of almost 20 cm/8 in during a year). Fog is a common phenomenon, even lasting all the day long, above all in the lower plain.

Summers are moderately hot and wet, warmer and less rainy in the lower plain, while the higher plain is often hit by thunderstorms; Padua has a record of +39.8 °C by August 2003, and usually gets above +36 °C in a year.