Vicenza

Andrea Palladio worked here for most of his career and left the city with more of his buildings than anywhere else: the Basilica Palladiana wrapping an older civic hall in a double loggia, palaces along the Corso, and outside the walls La Rotonda, a square villa with four identical porticoes on a hill, copied worldwide. His last work, the Teatro Olimpico of 1580, is the oldest surviving indoor theatre of the Renaissance, with a permanent stage set by Scamozzi of streets built in forced perspective that appear to run far back though the space is only a few metres deep. UNESCO listed the city and villas in 1994.

History

Settled by the Euganei and then the Paleo-Veneti, the town allied with Rome, was a de facto Roman centre by 157 BC under the name Vicetia, and its citizens received Roman citizenship in 49 BC; three bridges over the Bacchiglione and Retrone and arches of an aqueduct survive from that time. Heruls, Vandals, Visigoths and Huns ravaged the area, the city recovered under the Ostrogoths from 489, and it was a Lombard and then a Frankish centre; Magyar raiders laid it waste in 899. In 1001 Otto III handed its government to the bishop, it joined the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa, Frederick II sacked it in 1237, and after rule by Ezzelino III and a period under the protection of Padua it came under Venice in 1404. In the 16th century Andrea Palladio filled the city and its territory with palaces and villas, and since 1994 the city of Palladio, with the Palladian villas of the Veneto, has been a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Vicenza).

The main sights

• The Teatro Olimpico - a 1580 theatre with permanent perspective streets.
• The Basilica Palladiana - a double loggia wrapped round an older hall.
• La Rotonda - a villa with four identical porticoes on a hill.
• The Corso palaces - Palladio's town houses along one street.

When to go

April to October; La Rotonda's interior opens on limited days, usually Wednesdays and weekends in season, while the grounds open more often. The theatre closes Mondays.

Good to know

La Rotonda's interior access is restricted to a few days a week and books out. Several Palladio villas nearby are private. The theatre is small and quickly seen.

Nearby

Villa Pisani lies east; Verona is west.

Key facts