Situated on the Berici Hills, just outside Vicenza, the Villa is Giambattista Tiepolo’s last work in Italy. In 1757 Count Giustino Valmarana called the artist and his son Giandomenico to fresco it. The Villa still belongs to the Valmarana family and it includes two adjacent edifices with superb frescoes. In the Palazzina, upon the owner’s suggestion, Giambattista worked on great epic themes, such as Iphigenia in Aulis, Iliad, Furious Orland, Aeneid.

Almorò Tiepolo began the construction of the villa in the 1500s, which was completed in the following century. He was the procurator of San Marco and a Senator of the Republic, and decided to build his country residence in Carbonera. In the 1800s, the Villa passed through family connections to the Count Passi de Preposulo who still reside there. Villa Tiepolo Passi is built in Baroque Venetian style, according to the design principles of Vincenzo Scamozzi. Inside, it is adorned with Sansovino ceilings, featuring 18th-century stuccos and period furnishings. Luxurious frescoes with mythological allegories by Pietro Antonio Cerva, known as the Bolognese, adorn the walls. Outside, the garden is Italian-style, extending into a spectacular perspective and romantic park with centuries-old trees, small mountain caves, and statues by Torretto, a master of Canova. The Gentilicia Chapel dates back to 1774 and is decorated by the Venetian fresco artist Giambattista Canal, a nephew of Canaletto. The villa houses an agricultural business, has guest accommodations, and organizes guided tours and cultural events.

The villa, dating back to the 18th century and built on a pre-existing structure, was originally a country house for Venetian families. In 1968 it was purchased by the sculptor Toni Benetton, who transformed it into a residence and exhibition space for his works.

The structure features a Venetian style, with simple architectural lines. The facades are sober, decorated only by a wrought iron balcony and a triangular pediment. Inside, the ground floor has tiled floors and a "Sansovinic" ceiling, with walls adorned with essential stucco decoration. A living room includes an elegant red Verona marble fireplace, with painted decorations depicting boats.

The upper floors have Venetian terrazzo flooring with stucco also found on the ceilings. The first-floor salon retains four stucco panels that once housed paintings from the school of Marco Ricci.

A long adjacent building houses various spaces: former cellars, a greenhouse, granaries, a restored "caretaker's house," a farrier's room, stables (with stone and wood troughs and wall paneling), and a second renovated residence. To the east extends the barchessa at double height, with offices on the ground floor and an attic area above the portico, decorated with bas-reliefs and a Robbiano medallion. The barchessa ends with a family chapel dedicated to St. Anna.

The villa is set in a park of about 20,000 square meters, with ancient trees, magnolias, a large Lebanon cedar, a central courtyard with a well, and hosts Toni Benetton's "Macrosculture," large works integrated into the landscape.

Currently, it houses:

• The Toni Benetton Museum, in the former cellars and greenhouse;

• The International Academy of Iron, in the former studio of the sculptor;

• The International Documentation Center on Iron and other metals, in spaces adjacent to the villa.

The complex was commissioned by the Piovene Family in the second half of the 17th century and features the classic structure of Venetian Villas. It has an internal courtyard surrounded by columns with barns and a chapel. Initially, the construction began along the current state road, but due to a flood of the Agno river that flows nearby, it was decided to build at the location where the villa stands today. From the Piovene family, the complex was inherited by the da Porto family and later by the da Schio family, the current owners.

The extensive historic park follows the traditional design of 18th-century parks. In front of the facade is a classic Italian garden characterized by boxwood hedges and lemon trees. Numerous are the statues from the "workshop of the Marinali"; in front of the villa is the "fish pond," a large stone swimming pool, the "peschiera," surrounded by statues with biblical and mythological subjects, fed by the water of the Poscola river, which was deliberately diverted to allow for the creation of the park. The garden features three large avenues of linden and hornbeam trees that enhance the perspective effects of the entire complex. At the end of each avenue, there are terraces from which the view extends over the adjacent meadow.
Today, the villa is both an exclusive venue for private events such as weddings, business meetings, parties, receptions, and a place to find hospitality.

 

Pojega Garden: a green masterpiece combining art, history and wine in Valpolicella

In the heart of the Valpolicella hills, a few kilometres from Lake Garda, lies one of Europe's most fascinating Italian gardens: the Pojega Garden. Commissioned in 1783 by Count Antonio Rizzardi to the neoclassical architect Luigi Trezza, it is famous for its Teatro di Verzura, one of the very few still existing in Italy. A timeless place, where sculpted hedges, paths, statues and panoramic terraces alternate elegantly between classical geometries and breathtaking views of the vineyards. After extensive restoration, the Garden has reopened to the public with a new accessible route and multilingual audio guide, offering visitors an immersive experience of nature, architecture and silence.

Wine and beauty in a single experience

The Pojega Garden is an integral part of the historic Negrar di Valpolicella estate of the Guerrieri Rizzardi family, winegrowers since 1649. At the end of the visit, you can enjoy a glass of wine at the wine shop overlooking the 17th-century courtyard, or choose from a range of tastings that combine the great classics of Valpolicella – such as Amarone and Ripasso – to discover a unique territory.

An award-winning and renowned garden

The Pojega Garden is a member of the Grandi Giardini Italiani circuit, the network of the most important gardens open to visitors in Italy, and is one of the most evocative stops on the Veneto wine tourism trail. Guerrieri Rizzardi is also the winner of the Best of Wine Tourism award in the Architecture and Landscape category, for its ability to combine wine-making tradition with the cultural and landscape enhancement of the area.

An ideal stop for those seeking a break of beauty and tranquillity between Lake Garda and Verona, immersed in a landscape that tells over two centuries of history.

The current villa was built in 1776 by Carlo Maffei and the architect Pellesina. The construction is defined as elegant and was completed in the early 1800s. It has frescoes by Andrea Porta from 1786 that depict landscapes of the village. In front, there is a garden with a centuries-old magnolia and a small park to the north of the villa.

The main body, with a rectangular plan, raised on three floors, has the main façade facing south. This is divided by seven axes of openings, with the central one on the ground floor featuring an arched portal framed by two Tuscan pillars.

The west side of the villa extends into a wing where the noble floor is marked by a loggia (partially enclosed today) with three arches featuring rustic stonework on the arches and supporting pillars, connected by a stone balustrade. This section is perpendicular to a fragment of an unfinished wing, adjacent to the barchessa with an arcade on rusticated pillars. The barchessa is then completed by a pigeon tower, beyond which there are other rustic buildings of lesser interest.

The rear façade of the villa, facing north over the small park, shows similar characteristics to the main façade, but lacks the loggia in the adjacent body.

The interior of the villa features the traditional tripartite layout with a connecting hall. The one on the ground floor is decorated with architectural quadratures that, in the four large panels of the long walls and in the four over-doors, enclose frescoed landscapes by Andrea Porta, dated 1786.

The patrons of the renovation of the complex in the early 18th century were the Maffei counts, who were succeeded by the Bevilacquas, proponents of other works, and then by other families.

The villa has been the municipal seat since 1991.

 The villa, restored in various phases until the early 20th century, falls within the Venetian architectural typology of the second half of the 17th century - early 18th century and features a symmetrically developed plan; attached to the oldest part of the building is a turret - colomara. The main building has only two floors.

Highlights of the villa: Villa Saccomani is part of the ring of Venetian Villas that surround the residential center of Sommacampagna. These villas are located on the last slopes of the morainic hills that characterize the area between Lake Garda and the plain. There is a fascinating brolo, a system of gardens, and a centuries-old avenue of cypress trees. Inside the villa, there are frescoes currently undergoing restoration.

Highlights of the context: Pieve di Sant'Andrea (5th century), Sanctuary of Madonna del Monte. The villas surrounding the residential center of Sommacampagna (Cà Zenobia, Villa Masi, Villa dalla Vecchia, Villa Venier, Villa Bocca Trezza, Villa Decima). In Custoza, there are also Villa Pignatti Morano and the Ossuary.

UNESCO World Heritage Site of the 16th century, the Villa di Maser is a inhabited house, a masterpiece by architect Andrea Palladio, and offers year-round visits to the most important fresco cycle by the painter Paolo Veronese.

Thanks to careful work made possible by funds from the European Community, the original residential layout at the center of its agricultural estate, sustained by gardens, orchards, and greenhouses, has recently been restored. Here, through meetings and guided tours, art, history, and innovation are shared, and discussions on nature and sustainability, past and future take place. Among all the Venetian Villas, only in Maser did the intellectual genius of Daniele and Marcantonio Barbaro, patrons of the Villa, meet the innovative vision of Andrea Palladio, the skill and freshness of Paolo Veronese's imagination, and the decorative elegance of Alessandro Vittoria. From the union of these minds, a place came to life that became an expression of the intense artistic and intellectual fervor that was Venice in the 16th century, constituting a milestone in the history of modern architecture.

Today, the cultural hub Villa di Maser shares its treasure of beauty and culture by reaching out to new generations and proposing moments of exchange and research in collaboration with universities, festive seasonal presentations of products from the surrounding lands, workshops for children and adults, readings, concerts, tastings, school visits, and many other initiatives.

Villa da Prato is a small 16th-century Venetian villa nestled in the greenery and tranquility in the center of Caldiero.

Its full name is Villa Da Prato-Fiorini, and it is a country manor house built between the late 15th and the early 16th centuries. On the north façade of the complex, which is the current entrance to the villa, traces of frescoes from the 16th century are preserved, although the most beautiful façade is the south one, characterized by a small loggia with three arches and columns made of Verona marble.

What stands out is the 17th-century brick dovecote, notable for having the cardinal points as its sides. This towers over a courtyard enclosed by two barchesse.

The arrangement of the internal rooms follows the classical models of 16th-century Venetian villas, with a central hall and rooms on the sides.

Today, the villa hosts not only weddings but also corporate and private events, which can be organized in the woods or in the garden.

The villa features motifs derived from the Venetian palaces of the second half of the 16th century, both in its tripartite plan and in its façades. The south façade opens onto the main entrance of the park, while the north façade symmetrically opens onto the courtyard and the countryside behind. In the 1781 cadastre, it is recorded as belonging to the Lin family, wealthy grocers of Bergamasque origin who were granted patrician status in 1686, having bought a palace at the Grand Canal from the Mazzoni in 1691 (now Palazzo Morolin adjacent to Palazzo Grassi). Notable are the Lin family's investments in mainland properties: agricultural lands, manorial houses, and villas. In the early 1800s, a financial collapse led many assets to be auctioned off. The villa came into the possession of Ing. Meduna, the Mattiazzi, the Trevisan, and the Bottacin families. It currently belongs to the Santon-Boer family, who have overseen its complete restoration and reside there.

Highlights of the villa: The central body of the villa, crowned by a tympanum and pinnacles, has remained unchanged while the barchesse, originally used as stables and barns, have been recovered and integrated as living spaces. The main façade is adorned with semi-columns of Tuscan order and a balustrade balcony in Istrian stone with a wide serliana. Small oval windows, typical in the 1600s, illuminate lowered attics on either side of the tympanum, which rises above the quadrant of the sundial with two short marble volutes. On the north façade, one can see the protruding chimney pipes between lateral windows and a large central arched window, reminiscent of the openings on the main façade, but without a balcony.

Inside, there is rich decoration of stucco and a cycle of frescoes in the Tiepolo style attributed to Zugno, featuring historical-symbolic subjects with the recurring icon of Dogaressa. The Venetian-style floors in the hall and other rooms are original. All the doors have Istrian stone frames and overdoors decorated with panels and 18th-century stucco. Many ceilings feature Sansovino beams with fragments of original pictorial motifs. The park in front of the villa is enclosed by a gate with columns and statues, a low wall, and a small ditch. Period furnishings.

Highlights of the context: Villa Lin is located on Via Ca' Lin, which intersects Via Castellana in the Trivignano area, a provincial connection between Venice and Castelfranco Veneto. It is the closest visitable Venetian villa to the city of Venice (15 km away). The context in which Villa Lin is situated has significant environmental and cultural interest, also due to its proximity to the cities of Treviso and Padua, as well as to the numerous Venetian villas along the Terraglio and the Riviera del Brenta. The area offers excellent food and wine tours, particularly known for its agricultural and wine production.