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Overview
The treasures of Este
The Museo Nazionale Atestino museum is located in the 16th-century Palazzo Mocenigo, which incorporates part of the 14th-century walls of the Castello Carrarese. It boasts evidence of the history and civilisations that have marked the history of Este, in the province of Padua. While strolling through the exhibition halls, be sure to look up to admire the palace’s frescoed vaults.
The route starts with archaeological finds from the Palaeolithic era and runs through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the early 20th century. The richest collections cover the settlements of the ancient Venetians, whose culture developed in this area in the first millennium BC, and the Roman era. But the entire collection holds many surprises, with around 65,000 exhibits.
The main floor houses prehistoric collections up to the Bronze Age, including some grave goods from Iron Age necropolises. It continues with the history of the “Ateste” Roman colony and the Augustan-era necropolis. Exhibits from the Middle Ages and Renaissance are on the ground floor. Among the ceramics, don’t miss the 14th-century wooden Pietà and the Virgin and Child by Giovan Battista Cima da Conegliano from 1504.
