Palladio by the hand

From 23 April 2011 to 02 October 2011

He inspired the architectures of Europe from the 17th century and the next 300 years and initiated the phenomenon known as Palladio style. His celebrated villas embellish in unique ways the roads and river banks of the mainland behind Venice. With their precise neo-classic forms, the Istria stone white walls and the other stone materials, these architectures exhibit a monumental and fascinating character, perfectly integrated with the style elements of the paintings and sculptures that adorn them. Thanks to his important studies on architectural proportions (his treaty is still nowadays an unrivalled classic model for those wanting to design a building with precise and formal rules and proportions) Andrea Palladio stands out in the Renaissance period - and beyond as one of the most influential representatives of the Western architecture.

The Padua master has imprinted in his area the testimony of the aristocratics of Veneto who lived amidst the nature of the countryside and followed the Enlightenment spirit of the Renaissenance period of the time.

As part of the efforts to revalue the works of this artist scattered across the region, guided tours to his buildings and masterpieces in Vicenza and nearby areas are starting again: from the weekend of 23rd- 24th April 2011 until the weekend of 1st and 2nd October 2011 there will be guided excursions to fully admire the masterpieces of Palladio.

The programme on Saturday includes a visit of the town centre of Vicenza, entry to the Teatro Olimpico (Palladios final building) and the magnificent basements of Palazzo Thiene. On the same day it will also be possible to admire the Palladio basilica, the Loggia del Capitano and Palazzao Barbaran da Porto.

The excursions on the Sunday will include many visits and introductions: with the purposely arranged bus visitors will visit villa Caldogno (VI) and villa Godi Malinverni in Lonedo di Lugo (VI). After this the excursion will move on to Bassano del Grappa (VI) to spend the evening in adimiration of the Palladio Bridge also know as Ponte degli Alpini. The tour will move on to villa Almerico Capra, known as La Rotonda, and will finish with the visit of the villa Cordellina Lombardi in Montecchio Maggiore (VI) where visitors will be able to admire the fantastic paintings of Giambattista Tiepolo.