Cartura
The first settlements born in the current territory of the Municipality of Cartura were facilitated by land reclamation interventions – as the land was then swampy and covered with forests – which date back to the first century A.D. These were implemented through the regulation of water drainage and the formation of canals: the formation of the Cagnola canal probably dates back to this period.
In the following centuries, Cartura became the center of a brick production industry, favored by the urban development of the nearby towns that were within easy reach, and the city of Padua, in particular. These building requirements led to the creation of structures for the production and cooking of tiles and bricks, documented by the discovery of an old landfill of potsherd, waste materials, and the remains of ancient coal-fired ovens; according to one of the most accredited hypotheses, the name Cartura derives from the furnace brand called Cartorian.
Like all its surrounding area, Cartura also suffered from an economic decline following the fall of the Roman Empire and a subsequent long period of instability, during which it returned to its wild and swampy state.
After the Carraresi family’s dominion ended, the rich Venetians bought the land of the hinterland, improving its productivity with reclamation works and embellishing the landscape with their magnificent villas, numerous examples of which can be seen in Cartura.
