In a countryside estate outside Este, strategic for its proximity to navigable waterways, a Venetian family builds in the early 1700s the largest palace of Este, which is still expanded by the Salesians in the late 1800s, turning it into a regional training center.
By the end of the 1700s, the building was just the central, long and narrow structure, in an estate beyond the Scolo di Lozzo, outside the ideal enclosure given by the garrison at the Torre Bridge. It was built by the Pesaro family, who since the 1500s had estates and businesses in the area, linked to tolls from the bridges, traffic along the river, water supply, and the retrieval of "scoasse" (waste management) from the city: in short, they were the concessionaires of the environmental company of Este at that time.
The complex in the 1800s was used as a barracks for Napoleon's and Austrian troops, it deteriorated and was found empty and semi-abandoned in 1878, when it was purchased by the nobleman Benedetto Pelà for the Salesians, who, under the guidance of the Bishop of Padua Manfredini, transformed it into an important training center, directly promoted by Don Bosco. Within 50 years, the side wings were completely renovated and expanded, leading to its current H-shaped configuration.
The gigantic palace was finally fully utilized with the schools and especially the Salesian college, which has hosted thousands of boys over 150 years, becoming a fundamental resource for the entire territory of southern Veneto.
The construction of the palace, attributed to Longhena (the architect of the Venetian Basilica della Salute), is likely the work of his pupil Antonio Gaspari, who also completed Ca' Pesaro in Venice. The Baroque richness of the central body, covered in Nanto stone, is not common in the civil architecture of lower Padua and thus characterizes this countryside residence as a proper city palace.
The splendor on both facades of the central body, realized around 1730, does not correspond to decorative interventions on the lateral parts of the gigantic building, perhaps due to a decline in the fortunes of the owners, who only sporadically inhabited the complex and progressively left it abandoned starting from the early 1800s.
Near the junction with the side bodies, the Palace connects the upper floors with two wide elliptical staircases, a precise indicator of the Baroque style that bursts into the still classicizing typology of the palace (like the facade, which is only animated in the central bays).
The beautiful restoration of 2010 gives a powerful unity to the facade, which in local memory is instead distinguished between a noble part and overly loaded with decorations and the lateral part, more similar to the contemporary architecture of the time.
The large adjoining lot still has the original fencing and therefore the palace, despite additions and renovations, is still perceptible as it was in its best period.
While at the noble floor most of the frescoes have disappeared, on the upper floor the restoration has refreshed some rooms with marine or Venetian views, under ceilings with whimsical perspective tricks where the vases on the window sills seem to fall onto the viewer.
The word Paysage was first used for the little paintings that French nobles from the countryside took with them when they went to Paris, at the court of the King. On the upper floors of Ca' Pesaro, it is Venice that is remembered, a nostalgia of the nobility of the lagoon forced to live in the fields of earth.
The palace, despite its total isolation and private use, is very well-known, and the facade with the entrance path constitutes one of the representative images of the urban identity of Este.
