Cartigliano, province of Vicenza, 85 m/280 feet above sea level; train station at Bassano del Grappa 8 km/5 miles to the northeast. One side of the villa faces onto the main piazza of Cartigliano, the other side faces the Brenta River. On bicycle it is reachable along the Ciclopista [bike route] del Brenta between Bassano and Padova.
This villa was built in the second half of the sixteenth century on behalf of the Morosini family, one of the oldest and most prestigious families of the Serenissima [nickname for the Venetian Republic. RB] and attributed to the Palladian school architect, Francesco Zamberlan. Subsequently it passed on to the Cappello family, and hence the name Morosini Cappello.
The most original feature of the villa is the double-height colonnade that runs around the entire perimeter, at the ground floor as simple pilasters, at the main floor [piano nobile] and second floor as Ionic columns.
Today the villa is the property of the town of Cartigliano and used as its town hall; it also houses the Centro di cultura villa Cappello – the Villa Cappello Cultural Center.
