The Location

Catajo Castle

Set in the green Euganean Hills, the Catajo Castle is considered one of the most imposing historical residences in the area. Built from the 16th century onwards by Pio Enea I degli Obizzi, who wished to celebrate the splendour of his family, and enlarged by his successors between the 17th and 18th centuries, Catajo is a unique dwelling, first a princely villa, then a military residence, an important literary circle, a historic house museum hosting one of the most important collections in Europe and, finally, an imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty.

The construction of the so-called Castel Vecchio, commissioned by Pio Enea Obizzi himself, took place between 1570 and 1573, while the construction of Castel Nuovo, the northernmost wing of the castle, dates back to the 19th century, when the Obizzi family having died out and the Catajo was inherited by the Habsburgs of Este. The archdukes of Modena, Francesco IV Habsburg-D’Este and Maria Beatrice of Savoy had  Castel Nuovo built in 1838 to house the Austrian imperial court. After the the archduke died, the castle passed to the heir to the imperial throne Franz Ferdinand Habsburg – d’Este, who was later killed in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. After World War I the castle was confiscated by the Italian government as war reparation and resold and many areas of the castle transformed for the purpose of tobacco drying.

Since 2016, Catajo Castle has been owned by the Paduan entrepreneur Sergio Cervellin, who restored it with the aim of opening it to the public for visits and events.

All’interno, tra le sue 365 stanze, si può ammirare uno dei cicli di affreschi più belli e meglio conservati delle Ville Venete, che celebra la storia e l’importanza della famiglia Obizzi, realizzato dal pittore Gian Battista Zelotti discepolo di Paolo Veronese. All’esterno, invece, curatissimi giardini con alberi secolari, completano la ricchezza del castello.

Inside its 365 rooms feature one of the most beautiful and best-preserved fresco cycles of the Ville Venete, celebrating the history and importance of the Obizzi family, created by the painter Gian Battista Zelotti, a disciple of Paolo Veronese. Outside, on the other hand, well-kept gardens with centuries-old trees complete the richness of the castle


Euganean Hills

Since last July, the Euganean Hills have become a UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve. Spread over 15 municipalities, the area is rich in natural and cultural heritage, with hills of volcanic origin, green valleys and thermal waters, making it the largest thermal basin in Europe.

Among the hills, which originated around 35 million years ago, including Mount Veda the highest of the Euganean Hills.

The area, inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, is particularly rich in villages, fortifications and castles, villas, as well as churches and hermitages, set in the green hills, among vineyards and olive groves, chestnut and oak woods and Mediterranean maquis.

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How to find Us

Castello del Catajo is located in Battaglia Terme, a few minutes from the spa towns of Abano and Montegrotto, easily reachable from Padua and Venice.

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