Tombolo
Tombolo lies in the Alta Padovana, north of Padua, in a flat agricultural area between Cittadella and Piazzola sul Brenta
Updated 12 July 2026 · Sources: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombolo_(Italia) · https://www.mattinopadova.it/cronaca/prima-una-sepoltura-poi-il-tumulo-sparito-e-misteriosa-lorigine-del-nome-di-tombolo-d11kqqf8 · https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_di_Sant'Andrea_Apostolo_(Tombolo)
The story
The story of Tombolo
Origins of the Name and the Territory
The place name Tombolo may derive from a tumulo, possibly a pre-Roman burial mound. The town is first mentioned, together with Onara, in a document of 1130, in an area that between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries experienced a general revival of the Paduan countryside after centuries of manorial economy.
Onara and the Ezzelini
The hamlet of Onara was once a trading centre of considerable importance, linked to the Ezzelini family. To reduce its economic weight, the Commune of Padua founded the fortified town of Cittadella nearby and, in 1220, destroyed Onara's castle, reusing its stones to build part of the new town walls.
The Church of Sant'Andrea Apostolo
As early as 1085 Tombolo was home to a parish church dedicated to Sant'Abramo. The current church, dedicated to Sant'Andrea Apostolo, was designed by architect Francesco Maria Preti: its foundation stone was laid in 1756 and the building completed in 1774, before being enlarged between 1791 and 1818 with the addition of an apse and transept.
The Villa at Onara
On the site of Onara's old Ezzelinian castle stands a sixteenth-century rural residence, today abandoned. During the nineteenth century the building was altered by its owner, Giusti del Giardino, who had two crenellated towers added; only the right-hand barchessa of the original structure survives.
The Landscape of the Alta Padovana
Tombolo's territory presents a typical Alta Padovana countryside, with intensive farming and small settlements, set in an area shaped by its proximity to Cittadella and, over the centuries, by significant historical events linked to the Ezzelini and to the communal wars.
Experiences not to miss
- Visit the Church of Sant'Andrea Apostolo designed by Francesco Maria Preti
- Discover the remains of the sixteenth-century villa at Onara
- Trace the history of the Ezzelinian castle destroyed in 1220
- See the walls of Cittadella built with stones from Onara
- Cross the Alta Padovana countryside between Tombolo and Cittadella
To see
What to see in Tombolo
Routes · Trovido Route
Routes in Tombolo
Jobs · JobFlow
