The hypotheses on the ancient origins of pandoro they are various. There are those who make it descend from Vienna bread.
In fact, at the court of Vienna, some Italian confectioners were engaged in the arduous task of producing brioche soft enough for the palates of the nobles of the Habsburg Royal House. From the perfection of their work the "Vienna Bread" was born, from velvety texture similar to that of French brioches.
Others instead associate it with the Venetian tradition. The pan de oro it was a conical dessert very common in the territory of Serene. Covered with thin gold leaves it was a delicacy reserved for the richest. What is sure is that in the Veronese tradition there has always been a Christmas specialty called nadalin, created to celebrate the first Christmas after the investiture of the Della Scala nobles in Lords of Verona.
The confectioner Domenico Melegatti certainly started from this tradition when the October 14 1894 patent (at the time it obtained the certificate of industrial property) a soft dessert rich in butter. The eight-pointed star shape was commissioned to the impressionist artist Angelo Dall'Oca, and since then this has remained for everyone the shape of the famous dessert now known all over the world.
A little curiosity: if you walk along Corso Portoni Borsari, one of the Veronese shopping arteries, and about halfway up your gaze you will see the silhouettes of two large pandoros adorning a beautiful ancient palace: that is Palazzo Melegatti, originally owned by the ancient family of pastry chefs.
