Villa Pisani

Built from 1721 for a family that produced a doge, this is the grandest of the villas Venetian patricians raised along the Brenta as summer retreats reached by barge from the city. It has one hundred and fourteen rooms and a ballroom ceiling frescoed by Giambattista Tiepolo in 1761 showing the apotheosis of the Pisani family. Napoleon bought it in 1807, and the Habsburgs later used it; Hitler and Mussolini met here in 1934. The park holds a boxwood maze of nine concentric rings with a small tower at the centre, from which a guard could direct anyone unable to find the way out.

What you'll find

• The Tiepolo ballroom - a 1761 ceiling glorifying the Pisani family.
• The hedge maze - nine boxwood rings with a central rescue tower.
• The stables and pool - a long reflecting basin facing the garden facade.
• The scale - 114 rooms in the largest villa on the Brenta.

When to go

April to October for the park and maze, which closes in winter and in wet weather. The villa closes Mondays. The maze can shut for hedge maintenance.

Things to know

The maze closes in rain and for maintenance, and is genuinely confusing. Many villa rooms are bare. The Brenta villas are best combined by boat, which is a full-day trip.

Nearby

Padua lies west; Venice is east along the canal.