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| VICENZA'S SITES | PALLADIO |  |
| VENETO.ORG LINKS | ||
Where
is Vicenza? View geographic location  |
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At the foot of the Berici Mountains, where the rivers Retrone and Bacchiglione meet, we find Vicenza, the city known universally as the "cradle" of Palladio because of the incredible number of works the great architect produced there. The center of the city alone boasts about ten of those works: from Palazzo Chiericati (recognized as one of the most innovative moments of Palladio's architectural creation) to the Teatro Olimpico (the architect's last effort, the fruit of exhaustive study on the shape of the classic antique theatre and by tradition the site of outstanding performances) to the Basilica (the symbol of Vicenza), where as a great artist Palladio solved the problem of adaptation to an already existing structure. On their own, these examples indicate the basic imprint Palladio made on this city. In reality, however, Vicenza shows us other faces which are just as important, such as the Roman influence in urban planning, the fascinating juxtaposition of centuries-old streets, of bridges over waterways, of picturesque squares, and of buildings designed by Venetian architects of lesser renown. And finally, the cultural aspect bestowed on the city by the art masterpieces preserved in its museum and in its churches. Vicenza is dominated by a hill which rises a short distance from the city's center and upon whose summit there stands the Basilica of Monte Berico. The church we can see there now was built toward the end of the 1600s, next to a primitive Gothic chapel. The hills and countryside around Vicenza merit an attentive visit not only for their scenic value but also for the villas we find there: Villa Valmarana "dei Nani" ("the Villa of the Dwarfs"), whose rooms were frescoed in their entirety by Gianbattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo; the Rotunda, Palladio's most famous villa, one perfectly in communion with the surrounding landscape; the Godi Valmarana and the Piovene-Porto Godi, both works of the youthful Palladio and still standing in the first hills leading toward the plateau of Asiago; Villa Trissino at Trissino, Villa Pisani at Bagnolo di Lonigo, and Villa Fracanzan Piovene at Orgiano. These are but a few of the luxurious residences built - also in these parts - by the Venetian aristocracy between 1400 and 1700. Anyone who visits the province of Vicenza has obligatory stopovers in Marostica and Bassano del Grappa, at the foot of the "Altopiano dei Sette Comuni" ("Plateau of the Seven Towns"). Marostica, enclosed by a wall built in the 1300s, is guarded by two castles, one in the hills and one on the plain. Every other year, the famous game of "living chess" is played in the town's celebrated checkerboard square. Bassano del Grappa, on the other hand, boasts as its symbol the distinctive Palladian bridge over the Brenta River; the town likewise boasts elegant porticoed streets.