Camposampiero
Camposampiero is a municipality in the Alta Padovana whose identity is inseparable from Saint Anthony, who spent the last month of...
Updated 11 July 2026
The story
The story of Camposampiero
History and origins
Camposampiero's origins are Roman, at the edge of the large centuriation of the Noale area and along the route of the important Via Aurelia leading to Asolo. After the Lombard destructions, the town was fortified with a significant set of walls and became the domain of the Camposampiero family, related to, allied with and later a bitter enemy of the Ezzelini, the powerful lordships that fought for control of the Marca Trevigiana and the Padua area in the thirteenth century.
Saint Anthony's stay
In Saint Anthony's time, Camposampiero was a small village with a castle belonging to Count Tiso VI, converted by the saint's preaching. It was Tiso who convinced Anthony, by then ill and exhausted, to move here to rest in body and spirit in May 1231. The stay, which lasted about a month and ended with the saint's death on 13 June 1231, has become over the centuries a shared memory and collective identity that still defines the town today, the starting point of the Ultimo Cammino di Sant'Antonio, a pilgrimage route retracing his final days as far as Padua.
The Santuari Antoniani
The Santuario del Noce (Walnut Sanctuary) was built in 1432 by Gregorio Camposampiero on the spot where, according to tradition, the walnut tree stood from whose branches the saint preached to the crowds who came to listen to him. From the mid fifteenth century the building was enriched with a fresco cycle attributed to Girolamo Tessari, depicting the saint's principal miracles. Not far away stands the Santuario della Visione, which incorporated the small cell where Count Tiso is said to have witnessed the vision of the Christ Child in the saint's arms: the present, imposing church was rebuilt in the early twentieth century around that original nucleus.
Local life and economy
Beyond its religious pull, Camposampiero is the reference centre of the Alta Padovana, a farming area on the plain where cereal crops, small industry and widespread craftsmanship coexist. The town also hosts healthcare and commercial services that make it a hub for neighbouring municipalities, without losing the quiet pace typical of provincial centres far from the major cities.
Getting there
Camposampiero lies about twenty kilometres north of Padua and is connected to the provincial capital by a regional rail line with its own station, as well as by the Strada Statale del Santo. It is the ideal starting point for those wishing to walk the Ultimo Cammino di Sant'Antonio to Padua, or simply for a day trip combining faith and countryside.
Experiences not to miss
- Visit the Santuario del Noce and its fifteenth century frescoes
- Reach the Santuario della Visione and Tiso VI's cell
- Walk the first stages of the Ultimo Cammino di Sant'Antonio
- Discover the remains of the ancient walls built by the Camposampiero family
- Attend, if possible, an Anthonian celebration or procession
- Explore the countryside of the Alta Padovana by bicycle
To see
What to see in Camposampiero
Routes · Trovido Route
Routes in Camposampiero
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