Piazza Vecchia

Torre Civica

Andrew McGarrell

The best thing about Italy is the idea of the town square. It's a central focusing point where you can go to see people, have an ice cream, an aperitif or dinner and sometimes even take in a puppet show or medieval dancing.

The best square to experience is in Città Alta with the Contarini Fountain from 1780 in the center, the Civic Library and the Palazzo della Ragione from the 1400s.

The Bell Tower rings 100 times at 10 o'clock at night, a custom that remains from the medieval times to warn the farmers to come in before the walled-city doors are closed for safety at night.