Lugo di Vicenza 200 meters/656 feet above sea level; train station at Thiene on the Vicenza-Schio line about 7 km/4 1/3 miles to the southwest. On bicycle it can be reached from the Vicenza-Thiene bike route; the villa faces onto the same ascending road as Villa Godi, but is a bit higher in elevation.
Is this or is this not a work of Palladio, this imposing villa visible from a great distance and located right next to Villa Godi? Realized during the sixteenth century for the Vicentine Piovene family, it has been attributed to Palladio by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi(*). It is a likely attribution both for its style and its proximity to Villa Godi, but an attribution which has been hotly contested as not being one of the villas presented in the Second Book of Architecture and various other details that lead one to believe they are from a later date.
The overall appearance is certainly that of a classic Palladio design with a facade dominated by a porch in the form of a Greek temple, dated 1587, about 40 years after Villa Godi, and seven years after Palladio’s death, perhaps by overlaying a Palladian style to rival Villa Godi. Adjacent to the main block of the villa there are two colonnades constructed by Francesco Muttoni during the eighteenth century, as was the large stairway in front of the villa.
The main gate to the villa is locked and chained; entry to the villa is from the small side street to the right. The entrance normally is closed(*), visits are possible only at designated times, and only to view the exterior from designated pathways.
