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In 1369, Francesco Petrarca (Arezzo 1304 - Arquà 1374), tired of his continuous wanderings, and by that time old and ill, had one of the houses in the Euganean village of Arquà adapted to his requirements, and elected to live in for the rest of his life. Here, he was surrounded by old and new friends and  by members of his family: his daughter Francesca, his son-in-law Francescuolo da Brossano, and his granddaughter Eletta. And it was here that he died, his head resting on his beloved books, in the night of 18-19th July 1374.
Petrarca's house was perhaps given to him by Francesco I da Carrara, Prince of Padua and one of his good friends. Petrarca decided to restore it, suiting it to his purposes and personally following the building alterations. He had the two sections, which the original house was composed of, joined together, and had the upper floor of the left-hand building turned into a residence for himself and his family. The right-hand building, slightly higher, housed the servants’ quarters  and was also used for other domestic purpose. There was a garden in front and a kitchen-garden behind. Petrarca devoted considerable attention to caring for his plants, although he was not always successful. Inside the house, the poet changed the arrangement of the rooms. The windows were recreated in Gothic style, and the two balconies and three fireplaces were added.
After Petrarca's death, the house had several owners, but the building itself was not changed in any substantial way. Quite soon, it came to be considered as the setting for Petrarca's memories and was a place of literary and sentimental pilgrimage.
In the mid-Cinquecento, the new owner Paolo Valdezzocco had the walls decorated  with frescoes inspired by Petrarca's works, paintings which may still be admired. He added the small loggia and the outside staircase, which is still used to reach the first floor.
The last private owner, Cardinal Pietro Silvestri, in 1875 left the house to the City of Padua.

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" . "CASA DEL PETRARCA" . . "INTERO EURO 5.00; RIDOTTO EURO 3.00; GRATUITO BAMBINI FINO AI 5 ANNI, DISABILI" . . . . . . "CASA DEL PETRARCA" . . . . . . . . "6664" . . "

Nel 1369 Francesco Petrarca (Arezzo 1304-Arquà 1374), stanco del continuo peregrinare e ormai anziano e malato, si fece riadattare una casa nel villaggio euganeo di Arquà e la elesse a rifugio degli ultimi giorni. Qui trascorse in pace gli ultimi anni di vita, circondato da nuovi e vecchi amici e dai familiari: la figlia Francesca, il genero Francescuolo da Brossano e la nipotina Eletta. Qui morì nella notte tra il 18 e il 19 luglio 1374, reclinando il capo sui suoi amati libri.
La casa fu forse donata al Petrarca da Francesco I da Carrara, signore di Padova. Il Petrarca decise di restaurarla adeguandola alle sue esigenze e seguendo personalmente i lavori. Fece unire i due corpi di fabbrica preesistenti che la costituivano e adibì ad abitazione per sé e la sua famiglia il piano sopraelevato dell’edificio sito a sinistra e riservò alla servitù e ai servizi l’edificio a destra, sito più in alto. Sul davanti c'era il giardino, sul retro il brolo: alla cura delle piante il Petrarca dedicava molta attenzione, anche se non sempre con successo. All'interno della casa il poeta fece modificare la distribuzione degli ambienti. Furono rifatte in stile gotico le finestre, furono aggiunti due balconi e tre camini.
Dopo la morte del poeta si succedettero diversi proprietari, ma la casa non subì sostanziali modifiche: cominciava già a prendere corpo il mito della casa del poeta. Alla metà del Cinquecento l'allora proprietario Paolo Valdezocco fece dipingere gli affreschi che ancora si possono ammirare, ispirati alle opere del Petrarca e fece aggiungere la loggetta esterna da cui a tutt'oggi si accede al primo piano. L’ultimo  proprietario privato, il cardinale Pietro Silvestri, nel 1875 lasciò la casa in eredità al Comune di Padova

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