During the First World War the city was the headquarters of the Armys Supreme Command, immediately behind the lines, and underwent some bombing which caused the fire in the dome of the Church of the Carmine: however, far more disastrous was the bombing during the Second World War in 1944, which destroyed the Church of the Eremitani and the frescoes by Mantegna in the Ovetari Chapel. The economic development just after the Second World War was particularly rapid and transformed the city into a commercial centre of prime importance. On the other hand the transformations carried out on its fabric have caused habitability and environmental problems similar to those of other cities but which are particularly noticeable in Padua due to its still substantially medieval urban structure; in particular the interring of the internal canals has destroyed the urban balance, which was born and was developed from the continuous relationship with the waters.
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