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.

In Maser, in the heart of Veneto, thousands of visitors come to discover a place that has united landscape and humanistic values for centuries.

An experience to be traversed slowly, allowing oneself to be guided through frescoed halls, historic gardens, and suggestive views.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site where the genius of Andrea Palladio, the colors of Paolo Veronese, the material of Alessandro Vittoria, the vision of Tomaso Buzzi, and the agricultural vocation of the estate have intertwined through the centuries, granting us the privilege of beauty and unforgettable emotions.

There are many proposals to experience it: thematic paths, tastings, special events, concerts, and visits with all the time needed to enjoy the suggestions.

Villa di Maser is a perfect synthesis of Villa Veneta, inhabited by the owners who keep alive a productive ecosystem in the natural context of the farm.

Visits can be conducted autonomously, with scheduled guided tours and exclusive experiences and openings available upon request.
You can visit: the noble floor with the cycle of frescoes by Paolo Veronese, the garden of the Nymphaeum, the Palladian gardens, and the stables.

The Tempietto del Palladio, the Historic Gardens, and the private apartments, are accessible with guided tours (on schedule and upon request).

Available year-round are educational paths for schools of all grades (by appointment only).

In the historic stables, in an original Wine&Book Shop, guided tastings of wines produced by the cellar are available, along with many other local products, publications, and souvenirs.

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.

In Stra, not far from Venice and Padua, along the Brenta River, near Villa Pisani, stands the architectural complex of the 17th century called Villa Foscarini Rossi. According to aristocratic customs, the Foscarini family sent to call famous architects like Vincenzo Scamozzi, Francesco Contini, Giuseppe Jappelli, painters and decorators, such as Pietro Liberi and Domenico de Bruni, entrusted them with the task of creating and decorating a house that emphasized the importance of the family.

After a careful restoration, which has enhanced the pure architectural lines and the important frescoes, the entire complex of the Villa and Foresteria has been opened to the public, with the aim of making it alive as it had been conceived and wanted by the noble Foscarini.

The halls of the Villa have become a museum, while those of the Foresteria host conferences, meetings, receptions, concerts, exhibitions. In fact, the Villa houses the “Museum of footwear”, which collects the most representative models of the production of Rossimoda, which for years has been making the shoes of the most famous Italian, French and American designers.

Villa Carlotti

Built in the 15th century as a country retreat for the lombard Vimercati family and enlarged in the second half of the 16th century, the house passed to the hands of the wealthy and well-known Carlotti family in 1601 thanks to an exchange between families. The villa was completed and embellished with a beautiful garden and statues in 1632. In 1635, the family received their royal title from the Grand Duke of Tuscany and they started to undertake major building works to renovate and expand the Villa. It was officialy recognised as a Palace due to its size and the number of cultivated fields around it. In 1920, Francesca of Canossa decided to give it to the local community, however we had to wait until 1937, when the Villa was finally bought by the town council of Caprino Veronese and since 1952 it houses the town council offices.

Museum

The ground floor of the elegant Palazzo Carlotti houses the city museum, which is the result of the wish of professors Solinas and Marangoni and their group of researchers, to have a permanent place to display local historical artifacts. These were collected over the years and range from prehistoric times to the present day. The museum includes a section with objects from WWI. The most remarkable room is the “Sala dei Sogni” with its grotesque frescoes, but the highlight of the collection is the 14th century “Compianto” (mourning sculpture) founded in the ancient church of Santo Sepolcro in Caprino.

Villa Draghi was built on a pre-existing 17th-century building as a private villa, demolished to construct the current complex in 1848, featuring the villa-castle style spread over two floors and a basement. Over time, it lost valuable decorative elements, fixtures, and statues due to neglect and the lack of care from the Municipality that was supposed to safeguard them.

The Park and the Villa are located on the slope of one of the hundred hills that characterize the Euganean Hills, 10 km from Padua and 40 km from Venice. The rustic annexes are found at the foot of Monte Alto and at the entrance gate of the Euganean Hills Regional Park.

Patches of woodland surround small clearings crossed by paths that offer a variety of perspective effects along the way: scenes with wide views alternate with brief glimpses that open and close among trees, meadows, and bushes with changing rapidity.

The Villa is situated at the top of a hill, from which one can enjoy a splendid view of the natural amphitheater of the plain dotted with inhabited areas, watercourses, thermal springs, and agricultural land. This view is made possible by the visual permeability of the area in front, which is currently free of buildings and visual barriers. Behind the Villa, the mountain continues its ascent, providing a backdrop.

The Villa Draghi complex is publicly owned by the Municipality of Montegrotto Terme, which acquired it from the Jesuits of Venice in 1972. The Jesuits had received it as a donation from Giovannina Draghi (the last private owner since 1962, after whom it is named).

Villa Mocenigo, Garzoni, Martini is a Venetian villa whose construction began in the mid-fifteenth century on behalf of Lazzaro Mocenigo.

The original nucleus, currently identifiable with the noble part, was a hunting lodge in typically Venetian style, consisting of a large central hall flanked by two smaller rooms, respectively to the east and west. From the west side, a grand staircase led to the upper floor, where the bedrooms were located.

The rooms intended for the servants and horses were located about 50 meters to the west, in a rustic building with a well that still exists. In the seventeenth century, the lodge was expanded, connecting the buildings and transforming into a "house for stabling."

In the mid-eighteenth century, the architect Francesco Maria Preti from Castelfranco Veneto intervened on the entire complex, rendering its structure homogeneous while preserving, in the façade, the stylistic differences of the three building bodies.

The current owners of the villa are descendants of the marriages between the Mocenigo and Garzoni families, and later between the Garzoni and Martini families, and it was also the setting for important political decisions of the Serenissima.

The interiors are largely covered in marmorino. A dining room is decorated with an original nineteenth-century pavilion fresco, depicting striped white and blue draperies, creating the illusion of an opening towards an external garden. Other rooms feature more modest friezes.

The villa overlooks a centuries-old park, characterized by a small wood, the last survivor of the forests that once covered the lands of Castello di Godego. To the north of the complex is the barchessa designed by F.M. Preti, with a portico supported by Tuscan columns, and the chapel of the Sacred Heart (formerly dedicated to Saint John), which features a curious false entrance facing the main road of the village.