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| The villa and chapel as seen from the street. (photo 3 February 2013) |
Lisiera, altitude 40 m/130 feet above sea level, a hamlet of Bolzano Vicentino; train station at Vicenza about 10 km/6 miles to the southwest.
This project by Palladio for this villa for the Vicentine nobleman Gianfrancesco Valmarana dates to 1563; the original design was comprised of two stories each with a loggia, a bit like the Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese. But when Valmarana died in 1566, construction was interrupted for many years, and then, based on cost, a nephew gave up on the loggia at the second floor, substituting instead a much lower floor just with windows.
The villa was seriously damaged by bombing during the second world war and more recently has been restored.
Although very different from the original Palladio design, the villa still has a pleasant quality thanks in part to the garden in front.
Latest visit: 3 February 2013
English translation by courtesy of Richard Bosch, Architect, Portland, OR.
Translation is work in progress. A few pages are still in Italian.
Original text and photos are by Paolo Bonavoglia (E-Mail: paolo.bonavoglia@aruba.it) and may be used freely but only for non-commercial purposes and with an explicit and visible link to this site.
The logo picture was taken in Vicenza, in front of Palladio's Villa la Rotonda in 2011.
