The villas designed during the 16th century by the famous architect Andrea Palladio, are one of the greatest treasures the Veneto region hides.
Its design re-discovered the classics from the past and projects them into the future, influencing architecture worldwide for centuries.
That’s why I decided to undertake the adventure of visiting the 24 Palladian villas that were recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site between 1994 and 1996.
The ideal would be to visit the villas in order of construction, it mean, from the oldest to the newest, in order to see the evolution of Palladio’s architectural style through the time. But this can undoubtedly take a long time since the villas are scattered throughout the Veneto region and would mean to jump from side to side. In the table at the end of the post there is a listof the villas with the year in which they were designed and distributed by area, in order to help plan the visit.
After the first day of visits, I realized some important things to consider before starting the tour:
- It is not possible to visit all the villas. Some can be seen only from the street as they are private property and not open to the public.
2. Attention to the schedules !!! The information that appears on Google is not always accurate. It is better to phone and confirm. Many times, especially on Sundays, the gardens are open but you cannot visit the interior of the villas.
3. To avoid a disappointment, before visiting them, it is good to know that although most of the villas are in a good state of preservation, but some of them are almost completely abandoned and others have been converted into hotels or restaurants, then part of its charm has been lost.
4.Not all villas were finally built according to Palladio’s original design. Many of the projects were half-done due to lack of funds from the owners and other villas have been modified or restructured through the centuries changing the original appearance
To plan the route it is very useful to see this map with the location of all the villas and the possibility to follow the instructions of the Google Maps browser.
In the following table you can access different links that give valuable information about the different villas and their location. I have divided the area into 4 sectors to facilitate the visit. Each of them corresponds more or less to a day trip: Vicenza Norte (A), Vicenza sur (B), Treviso (C), Venezia (D), Verona (E)
As I make the visits, I will write a post of each villa with my photos and impressions …
Good visit wishes you Venezia and il veneto.
Venezia e il Veneto 