2023 – Montagnana (PD) – City walls

Montagnana, with its medieval wall almost two kilometers long, is one of the best preserved walled cities in the Veneto. In Roman times Montagnana belonged to the Agro di Atheste, the nearby city of Este, and was an important military station along the Via Emilia Altinate. In the early Middle Ages, the invasion of the barbarian peoples coming from the lands beyond the Alps gave rise to the construction of the first wooden fortifications surrounded by a moat and barriers of thorny brambles. In 1405 Montagnana, already surrounded by the medieval crenellated walls that still distinguish it today, handed itself over to the Republic of Venice.
Expin in 2023, led a wide investigation campaign involving the study of the geologic and geophysical soil characteristics (30 m deep soil coring, CPT tests, GPRS, MASW), of the archaeologic background, and of the upper masonry structures, by using several diagnostic techniques (flat jack, shear test, endoscope inspections, mortar laboratory analysis, thermal camera).