Brenta Canal

There is a very attractive excursion from Padua along the canalised River Brenta (boat services in summer). The road first reaches Stra (8m/26ft), a favorite resort of the Venetians in summer. At the far end of the village, in a park to the left of the road between the Brenta canal and its tributary the Veraro, stands the 18th century Villa Pisani or Villa Nazionale. Composed of five wings grouped around two inner courtyards, there are over 100 rooms with beautiful Empire furniture, paintings, wall and ceiling paintings, with a splendid ballroom containing a large ceiling painting by Tiepolo (1762). The road then continues east alongside the navigable Brenta canal (Naviglio di Brenta), past a series of country houses and villas surrounded by parks.