Vicenza

Villa Pisani Bonetti, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1996, was planned by Andrea Palladio in 1541, the date of his return from his first journey to Rome, and was built between 1544 and 1545. It is perhaps the most representative example of his early period and it marked the beginning of his collaboration with the Serene Republic of Venice.

The Villa was inspired by the ancient buildings of Rome, in particular the public baths; it reflected their monumentality and, in doing so, was a potent symbol of the new “fiefdoms” and the power of Venice on the mainland.

The location of the Villa on a river meant that there was easy access to Venice for the transport of people, materials and produce, and making it particularly convenient for the Pisani family when they came in the summer months.

The Villa is now in a perfect state of preservation thanks to the work of both the previous and the present owners; it may be visited all the year round by appointment.

The Barchessa, originally a rustic construction with large arched canopies for essentially agricultural use, which today, after a careful restoration and complete restoration, comes back to life, preserved and enhanced, in the 21st century, as a relais, event space and restaurant .

In 1497, in Quinto, Giacomo Thiene, son of Marco, makes his will at the manor house and orders to be buried in the cemetery of S. Giorgio. Thus, there is already a villa and the lord resides there for long periods of the year. The presence of a lord in these lands is destined to strengthen more and more in the following centuries. From this moment on, the Thiene family will increasingly bind their name to the history of Venetian architecture and Palladio.

Excellences of the villa: "The drawings that follow are of the fabric of Count Ottavio Thiene in Quinto, his villa. It was begun by the happy memory of Count Marc'Antonio his father, and by Count Adriano his uncle: the site is very beautiful as it has, on one side, the Tesina, and on the other, a large branch of the said river.” Thus Andrea Palladio introduces the project of Villa Thiene in his treatise “The Four Books of Architecture.” However, it should be emphasized a fundamental aspect: the drawing included in the Treatise is the result of a radical theoretical reworking that came later. In fact, the first project for this villa is less complex but more attentive to the environmental context than that of 1570. The villa was built around 1545/46 for Marcantonio Thiene. On the ground floor, the council hall preserves the sixteenth-century fresco decoration by Giovanni De Mio from Schio. The villa, having passed from the Thiene family to the Valmarana family, has been a municipal seat since 1871. It has been UNESCO heritage since 1996.

Excellences of the context: -The Church of San Giorgio, which houses paintings from the Maganza school and a valuable baptismal font from the 1700s with the coat of arms of the Thiene family. -In contrada Valproto, in the 1200s, there was the ancient church of San Michele Arcangelo and on the ancient bell tower still visible, the stone coat of arms of the Thiene family. -The Church of Lanzè dates back to 1927 and is in neoclassical style, created by local architects. -In the location of Quintarello, we find Villa Tacchi-Fagan, notable for the vast park designed by architect Giorgio Massari (18th century). -Older is the villa De Tacchi Franco also known as "Cà Prigioni", whose structure incorporates a core that possibly dates back to the times of the lords of Lanzè. -Another testimony to the summer residences of the bourgeoisie, built between the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, is the Uderzo villa, now Cavinato, and the Galvanin Rigon villa in Lanzè.

Nestled in the millennia-old history of Brendola (VI), Villa Vescova – formerly known as Villa Veronese – stands on the edge of the ancient Roman Castrum, in one of the village’s oldest quarters. Once the residence of the Bishop Count, who oversaw the territory from the nearby fortress, the villa takes its name from the episcopal presence that lasted until the sixteenth century. Transferred to private ownership between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the villa was restored in the 1940s by Ugo Veronese, who commissioned architect Dal Conte for the renovation. Neoclassical elements were added to the central structure, while the elegant double staircase and the arched passageway leading to the rear park – still home to centuries-old olive trees – were preserved. Following the death of Veronese’s wife, with no heirs, the villa was donated to the Diocese of Vicenza, which now entrusts its care to the Diakonia Onlus Association. Through the “Cultivating Hope” project, the villa continues to thrive as a place of memory, beauty, and renewal.

The villa is located near the city of Vicenza. Villa Godi, Piovene was built in 1597 by the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi. The layout of the central body corresponds exactly to the usual scheme of the Venetian villas of the 16th century: a large central hall, flanked by three smaller rooms on each side. The chapel located on one side of the park, an excellent testimony of the 17th century Vicenza, is attributed to Antonio Pizzoccaro.

Excellences of the villa: The villa has been recently restored to host events. It has service areas and heating. A vast centennial park of about 60,000 square meters, with an avenue of centuries-old plane trees at the back of the villa, allows for moments of pleasant relaxation. Surrounded by a large fish pond, there is ample parking for cars and buses within the park.

The Villa, located on the left bank of the Brenta River, represents a unique and ingenious example of great Venetian architecture in the late 16th century. The singular construction, dating presumably towards the end of the 16th century (1560-1580), is attributed to the Palladian architect Francesco Zamberlan and completed by the architect Antonio Sardi.

It is characterized by a portico and an Ionic loggia that runs along its entire rectangular perimeter, so that no section of wall ever interrupts the extraordinary pictorial and chiaroscuro effect. The Villa presents, both in its exterior and interior, solutions that, while presupposing Palladian experience, are entirely new and original, making the construction destined to remain an isolated and unrepeatable architectural episode. Once belonging to the Morosini, Cappello, Battaggia, Lampertico, and Vanzo-Mercante families, the Villa is now owned by the Municipality and serves as the town hall.

On the first floor of the South Barchessa is the Municipal Library, whose back wall, frescoed by Master Bruno Breggion, tells the story of the town through images. Near the former Caretaker's House is the senior day center, where conferences, exhibitions, and public meetings are held.

At the beginning of the Riviera Berica road, on a hill, Villa Capra Valmarana “La Rotonda” has been seducing travellers for centuries thanks to its lines and volumes. Palladio includes the factory in the part of the treatise dedicated to the city, thanks to its proximity to Vicenza.

The architect describes its situation as “advantagious and delicious as can be desir’d, being feated on a hillock of a most easie ascent at the foot of which runs the Bacchilione, a navigable river. On the other side, it is surrounded by several hills, which seem to form a great Theatre”.

Today the ascent to the villa from the river is cut off from the road by a wall, which interrupts the natural slope of the hill. The construction of the building started between 1566 and 1568, but came to a halt in 1571. At the death of the client, Canon Paul Almerico, the villa was taken over by Mario and Odorico Capra in 1591.

The Capra family completed the works around 1620. There are four identical façades with hexastyle ionic porticos around the central body. Palladio planned to cover the central hall with a semi-spherical dome, but it was Vincenzo Scamozzi who ultimately finished the work, thus changing the original design that led to a different structure. Inside, the semi-spherical ceiling is decorated with frescoes by Alessandro Maganza, whereas on the side walls are depicted Greek gods painted in the eighteenth century by the French painter Louis Dorigny