Guided Tour of Palladian villas

Program

Venetian Villas: art, architecture and life in the countryside

A fascinating itinerary to discover the Venetian Villas, masterpieces created as elegant country residences and productive estates for the Venetian nobility. Accompanied by licensed tour guides, you will enjoy a journey through Renaissance architecture, magnificent fresco cycles and harmonious landscapes that reflect the refined culture of the Venetian Republic.

The coach tour begins in Vicenza, the city that best represents the genius of Andrea Palladio. Here you will visit the famous Villa Capra, known as “La Rotonda”, an icon of Western architecture: a perfectly symmetrical building inspired by ancient temples, conceived more for contemplation than for agricultural use. Nearby, Villa Valmarana ai Nani enchants visitors with its extraordinary frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo, where mythological and epic scenes come vividly to life. A curious anecdote: the statues of the “dwarfs” in the garden are linked to a melancholy local legend connected to the noble family who owned the villa.

After a panoramic stop on the hills overlooking Vicenza, the visit continues with the splendid Teatro Olimpico, Palladio’s final masterpiece and the oldest covered permanent theatre in Europe, famous for its illusionistic stage sets.

Following a free lunch break, with the opportunity to enjoy local specialties, the tour continues into the Treviso area with visits to Villa Emo in Fanzolo and Villa Barbaro in Maser, both decorated with frescoes by Paolo Veronese and his pupil Giovan Battista Zelotti. These villas perfectly combine architecture, painting and landscape into a harmonious whole.

Alternatively, guests may choose an itinerary along the Brenta Riviera, including the monumental Villa Pisani National Museum in Stra, renowned for its vast gardens and labyrinth, and Villa Foscari “La Malcontenta”, an elegant Renaissance villa poised between land and water.

An ideal experience for those wishing to explore one of Veneto’s most fascinating heritages, guided by official professionals who transform each visit into a vivid and engaging story.

DURATION: Full day

COST: €350.00 gross for the whole day without entrances. For groups of more than 35 people, please provide radios

CANCELLATION POLICY: once the tour is confirmed, it can be cancelled without penalty up to 11 days before. If cancelled from 5 to 10 days, 50% of the cost will be charged; if cancelled from 4 days to the day of the tour, a penalty of 100% will be applied

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Additional Information

The Venetian nobility, that occupied the fertile lands of the Region to exploit them for economic reasons, between the XV and the XVIII century, built their villas, next to their fields, where the nobles could bring their town life to the country during the warn seasons. In this route we propose the visit of some of the most interesting aristocratic villas of the region, both being masterpieces of Andrea Palladio, the famous master of this kind of buildings, and the ones of the XVIII century, when the architects followed the teaching of Palladio to fit them to the needs of the time.