The City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas in the Veneto
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This publication was created in partnership with the following With its 26 Palladian works, 23 monuments in the historical city centre and 3 An editorial project organisations: suburban villas, Vicenza was quite rightfully added to the World Heritage List in of the Unesco Office 1994. On account of their impressive architectural effect and certain relationships established between each work and nearby buildings and structures, the Palladian Municipality of Vicenza Direzione Regionale Beni Culturali e Paesaggio monuments transformed Vicenza, conferring upon the city and its urban setting a Soprintendenze per i beni artistici, storici ed etnografici unique quality of its own. del Veneto In 1996, UNESCO recognised a further 21 villas designed by Andrea Palladio Soprintendenze per i beni architettonici e per il paesaggio del Veneto situated in the Veneto region. One can imagine a subtle ‘dialogue’ existing between THE CITY OF VICENZA AND THE PALLADIAN VILLAS IN THE VENETO VILLAS THE CITY OF VICENZA AND PALLADIAN Regione del Veneto these monuments and the landscape of the Veneto; such distinctive and ‘emerging’ forms of interaction lie behind the recent decision to consider these 16th-century achievements as having an outstanding and universal value. Palladio’s work gradually became a point of reference for architects throughout the world. The villas of the Veneto constitute an asset bearing witness to a culture and civilisation – and not only in the artistic or architectural sense – which quite rightly should be protected, preserved and valorised. Provincia di Provincia di Provincia di Provincia di Provincia di Provincia di Texts, photographs, iconographic research, Padova Rovigo Treviso Venezia Verona Vicenza plans, graphics and page layout Rossana Viola The city of Rosario Ardini Vicenza Translated by Stefano Pastorello A Guide to the UNESCO site and the Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Agugliaro Bassano del Bolzano Caldogno Cessalto Fratta Palladian Grappa Vicentino Polesine Villas in the Veneto Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Grumolo delle Lonigo Lugo di Maser Mira Montagnana Abbadesse Vicenza Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di Comune di The publication of this guide was funded by Montecchio Monticello Piombino Poiana Quinto San Pietro the Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities Precalcino Conte Otto Dese Vicentino In Cariano (in accordance with Law 77/2006) and by the Municipality of Vicenza Acknowledgements: We wish to thank the architect Lorella Bressanello for her assistance and support during the coordination Comune di Comune di and planning of this work. Sarego Vedelago Printed in Italy Centro Internazionale © Copyright 2009 DIOCESI IRVV di Studi di Architettura The Unesco Office of the Municipality of Vicenza DI VICENZA Andrea Palladio All rights reserved Comune di Vicenza Palladian Villas in the Veneto Palladian The 23 buildings in the historic centre The 24 villas included in the World Heritage List included in the World Heritage List 13 The barchesse at Villa Trissino 1 Palazzo Barbaran da Porto 1 Villa Trissino Trettenero 2 Palazzo Poiana 2 Villa Gazzotti Grimani 14 Villa Valmarana Zen 3 Palazzo Civena 3 Villa Almerico Capra - “La Rotonda” 15 Villa Valmarana Bressan 4 Palazzo Thiene 4 Villa Angarano 16 Villa Piovene Porto Godi 5 Palazzo Porto Festa 5 Villa Caldogno 17 Villa Badoer - “La Badoera” 6 The loggias of the Basilica Palladiana 6 Villa Chiericati 18 Villa Barbaro 7 Loggia del Capitaniato 7 Villa Forni Cerato 19 Villa Emo 20 Villa Zeno 8 Palazzo Valmarana 8 Villa Godi Malinverni TRENTINO 9 Palazzo Thiene Bonin Longare 9 Villa Pisani Ferri 21 Villa Foscari - “La Malcontenta” 10 Palazzo Porto Breganze 10 Villa Poiana 22 Villa Pisani FRIULI 11 Palazzo Chiericati 11 Villa Saraceno 23 Villa Cornaro 12 The Olympic Theatre 12 Villa Thiene 24 Villa Sarego 13 Arco delle Scalette 14 Palazzo da Monte 15 Palazzo da Schio 16 Casa Cogollo 17 The church of S. Maria Nuova 18 Loggia Valmarana 19 Palazzo Garzadori 20 The dome of the Cathedral MASER 21 North portal of the Cathedral BASSANO A27 DEL GRAPPA 18 22 Palazzo Capra A4 LUGO DI 4 23 The Valmarana Chapel VICENZA CESSALTO 8-16 20 VEDELAGO TREVISO A31 MONTECCHIO PRECALCINO 19 7 PIOMBINO DESE CALDOGNO MONTICELLO 5 15 CONTE OTTO BOLZANO 23 A22 14 VIC.NO VICENZA1 QUINTO 2 12 VIC.NO SAN PIETRO GRUMOLO DELLE IN CARIANO 3 6 ABBADESSE 24 VENICE A4 VERONA 21 PADUA MIRA A4 13 SAREGO 9 LONIGO AGUGLIARO 11 POIANA MAGGIORE 5 5 E 10 ADRIATIC MONTAGNANA SEA 5 5 E 22 A13 LOMBARDY ROVIGO FRATTA POLESINE 17 EMILIA ROMAGNA The City of Vicenza The City THE CITY OF VICENZA AND THE PALLADIAN VILLAS IN THE VENETO The UNESCO site 01 The city of Vicenza 02 Palladio in Vicenza: the 23 monuments 03 in the historic centre Palladio in the Veneto: 04 the 24 villas in 8 itineraries Chronological table of events 05 Bibliography 06 At the 18th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held at Phuket in Thailand in December 1994, it was decided that the city of Vicenza would be included in the World Heritage List. This represented the conclusion of the fervent and pa- tient work that had started at the beginning of 1993 and had involved the participation of a committee formed by eminent scholars and members of various Administrations and which led to the formulation of careful and in-depth studies, from which the exceptional value of the Palladian architectural heritage of the city emerged very clearly. On that occasion, as Mayor of Vicenza, I intervened on behalf of the entire community, and signed the proposal for its candidature, which, after various subsequent proceedings, would lead to the prestigious recognition of the city as a UNESCO site. After a period of fifteen years, I had once again been elected as Mayor of Vicenza and during this second period of office I was involved in the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Palladio, whose work left a deep and indelible mark on the urban landscape and architectural style of the city, conferring upon it a special balance and extraordinary cultural value that has definitely made it worthy of this important recognition. Coinciding with the Palladian anniversary, the Unesco Office of the Municipality of Vicenza - thanks to funds made available by the Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities and appropriated for use by Italian UNESCO sites - has prepared this guide entitled “The City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto”, which, as the name implies, includes not only the city of Vicenza but also twenty-four Palladian villas situated in various provinces of the Veneto region. The idea for the guide stems from a desire to present the site as a unitary system, at the heart of which we find Vicenza and its many Palladian buildings, but which also spreads across the Veneto and includes so many works and masterpieces designed by the great 16th-century stone-mason and designer who was to later inspire architects from all over the world. Besides its intention to help visitors discover Palladio’s monuments in Vicenza, the guide also offers some new itineraries illustrating the villas of the Veneto and thereby providing tourists, scholars and students with an opportunity to appreciate the balance and harmony pervading the extensive and varied work of the great architect and resulting from his rigorous and rational methodology. The Municipality of Vicenza, the leading administrative body of the site, decided to propose this small guide as a service to all local communities and organisa- tions forming part of this great ‘system’, and with the aim of raising the interest and awareness of tourists with respect to Palladio’s work in its various forms present throughout the territory surrounding our city (including certain places off the beaten track). Achille Variati Mayor of Vicenza One of the reasons for including Vicenza in the world heri- tage list was that the city is “an exceptional artistic setting owing to the numerous architectural works of Andrea Pal- ladio, which, within their historical context, afford a sense of unity”. Such a prestigious recognition does not merely bear a symbolic value but, on the contrary, quite tangibly binds an entire community to its architectural heritage. The architectural language and works of Andrea Palladio are well known throughout the world and have left Vicenza and the Veneto region a legacy of enormous importance. Having fortunately inherited such assets however, the region should not merely sit back and enjoy the advanta- ge of its position; such a legacy is worth exploiting to the full, in a ‘virtuous’ manner, as a characterisation of its cultural identity. The region and its landscape were transformed by Palladio’s work. His achieve- ments characterised the development of the country villas of the Veneto, which in itself can be seen as a unique phenomenon from the historical, social and also architectural points of view, characterizing the area in a fundamental way. This very particular feature of the region however now risks being jeopardised by the invasi- ve, chaotic and widespread process of increasing urbanisation, which has greatly altered the balance and strong appeal of the landscape, attained over time through the masterful planning of a serene equilibrium between the works of man and the natural environment. It is hoped that, in relation to this complex and rather delicate subject, the various public organisations, associations, the citizens themselves and numerous cultural movements will be able, through serious collaboration, to initiate and promote debate aimed at identifying responsibilities and possible projects re- garding the entire city. The guide to the UNESCO site fulfils such an objective and aims at finally offering a unitary and complete view of the Palladian ‘system’, divulging knowledge regarding its content and territorial distribution and allowing the reader to more clearly com- prehend the strong mark and particular cultural identity conferred by this collection of works upon the entire region.