Venetian Villas
When Venice was one of the most important European States, hundreds of noble residences were built for noble families to relax and keep under control the agricoltural activity. Some of these villas are masterpieces of architecture, decorated with frescoes by great artists. A Venetian Villa is an architectural complex, that usually consists of a monumental central building with a spacious loggia or elegant staircase, framed by side wings, and often includes a pigeon tower, a cellar, stables and chapel.
Venetian Villas near Verona:
Villa Arvedi is a seventeenth-century villa by a young architect, Giovanni Battista Bianchi. It is considered one of the most important Veronese residences. Built on a medieval fortress, as evidenced by the two towers that frame the central Palace, it was purchased to be used as a spinning mill by the Arvedi family. These pioneers of the silk art still live in it and guard the dies used to decorate silk fabrics, at that time considered the Gold of Italy. The fantastic living room frescoed by Francesco Bibiena and Louis Dorigny will leave you breathless. Titans, mythological and allegorical figures tear the ceiling apart with virtuosity.
The Italian garden with boxwood hedges and refined fans has remained intact over the centuries. The Baroque church has a double scenic staircase and a rare image of San Metrone. Annexed to the villa there are a cave-shaped Orangerie decorated with shells and an ancient oil mill. You can taste the oil produced here with centuries-old millstones.
The villa is located in Grezzana, 12 km East from Verona
Villa Mosconi Bertani it is an eighteenth-century palace in classic style built by Adriano Cristofali. Through a majestic Hall, frescoed with the four seasons, Arts, Virtues, Muses and Deities, you reach the park where a romantic pond reproduces a mini Garda Lake and a pretty exotic chalet is reflected in its waters. And there is also good wine to taste here! Old cellars still contains huge barrels of Amarone, the king of wines, that was born right in this place, in Valpolicella 10 km from Verona.
Villa del Bene (Goodwill) is a rare example of palace painted with religious themes. The frescoes of the sixteenth century (by Domenico Brusasorzi & the brothers Giovan and Francesco Caroto) represent, in between sibylls and caryatids, biblical scenes taken from the Old and New Testaments, probably because clergymen stopped here on the way to the church Council in Trento. The trumpets of the Apocalypse announcing drammatic calamities make you meditate on the mistery of life and death... The villa was designed by the architect Michele Sanmicheli and is located in Volargne 25 km north of Verona following the river Adige, close to the slate-quarry on the ancient Roman Via Claudia Augusta.
Villa della Torre was built in 16th-century by Giulio Romano and Michele Sanmicheli. It perfectly reproduces a house of the Roman times, with a central patio surrounded by columns. This Villa is famous for its four monstrous-shaped fireplaces. It is located in Valpolicella among vineyards, 22 km from Verona. It belongs to the wine producer Allegrini, so you can combine this visit to a pleasant wine tasting.
At Lake Garda
Vittoriale is the bizarre estate of the poet Gabriele D'annunzio, built by the architect Gian Carlo Maroni in the early twentieth century to celebrate the enterpraises of this militant poet, Mussolini's rival. It is an extravagant house-museum, full of books, objects of veneration and rare, valuable fashion items. The rooms remained exactly as the poet left them, full of "useless and beautiful things he deeply loved with ruinous passion" and well reflect his eccentric personality. In this "place of pleasures for the intellect and for the body" there is no end to wonder... The park is really remarkable, it boasts fountains and a huge ship with a fantastic view on the lake.
Gardone Riviera, 80 km West from Verona
Villas in the province of Vicenza
La Rotonda is the absolute masterpiece by Andrea Palladio. This temple-like villa with a monumental facade that repeats itself identically on four sides, is rightly considered the Perfection in architecture and is a UNESCO world heritage site. To give an idea of its majesty and uniqueness: the staircases, which amplify the vertical effect of the hill, occupy more space than the inner surface of the palace. The arrangement of the rooms inserted in a cube is of great harmony and the Central round Hall is surmounted by a dome and frescoed with deities and virtues (Louis Dorigny and Bernardino India) that well reflect the owner's ambitions.
55 km East of Verona
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, so called because of the funny dwarfs decorating the fence. The main palace of the 16th century and the guest house of the eighteenth century preserve a cycle of frescoes by Tiepolo, father and son, considered one of the greatest Italian masterpieces. The topics are very diverse: Venetian carnival and peasant life, Chinese fantasies, stories from Latin and Italian literature (Homer, Virgil, Tasso and Ariosto), that can be summarized in a few words: love, sacrifice and female tempting beauty.
56 km East of Verona
Villa Fracanzan Piovene built in the XVIII century by Francesco Muttoni. It is an amazing noble residence with huge furnished rooms. The dining room has an antique silver and porcelain dinner-set, the kitchen boasts a great collection of copper pans, an old-fashioned linen room shows rich embroidery and funny irons, the ball and billiard room, four-poster beds take us back to the past every day's life in a noble family. An unespected large collection of tractors and an 800-meter-long alley outlined by elegant evergreen hedges and century-old yews will surprize you for sure.
55 km East of Verona
