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| Map of the villa and surroundings |
Monteviale, district of Biron, 42 m/140 feet above sea level, Viale Zileri; train station at Vicenza on the Milano-Venezia line about 5 km/3 miles to the southeast. By bicycle one can reach the villa from the Vicenza train station by following Viale Milano, Viale Verona, Viale Crispi, Strada delle Cattane and Strada Biron di Sotto, as far as the large rotary which marks the beginning of Viale Zileri.
The villa is the result of a series of renovations and expansions; the oldest remnants can be traced back to 1436 when Niccolò Loschi acquired the land and an existing structure that he expanded; other expansions occurred with the most significant at the end of the seventeenth century, a work by the architect Carlo Borella. The current structure recalls in part the grandiose design by Francesco Muttoni from 1729 which subsequently was modified by Ottone Calderari and others. The interior has frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo.
The villa consists of a main structure of three stories with eleven windows across and a central balcony surmounted by the Loschi family coat-of-arms. On the left side there is a large barchessa [farm support building] in the shape of a large L. To the east there are other buildings including a much smaller barchessa; to the west there are other service buildings, today apartments, surrounding a courtyard. Surrounding the villa is a large park designed during the nineteenth century by Antonio Negrin.
The villa changed ownership several times, thus the source of a certain confusion about names: Villa Loschi, Villa Loschi Dal Verme, Villa Zileri, Villa Zileri Motterle.
Currently (2015) the complex houses luxury condominiums in the west wing, while in the east wing there are offices and commercial show rooms; it is open only on weekdays, and on holidays, but only by appointment and for groups of 30 or more.
Latest visit: 2015-01-01