Venetian Villas

With the discovery of America, the events resulting from the war with the League of Cambrai and the economic and military wear and tear caused by the continuous conflicts with the Turks for dominance over the Mediterranean, the shrewd Venetian entrepreneurs soon realized that they could no longer base their their economic fortune only on maritime trades, so they looked with interest to the possessions in the mainland, which up to that moment had been considered only as a fortified outpost, a place for supply of raw materials (metals, timber, wine,…) and, at most, a territory where to build hunting lodges.
Towards the half of the sixteenth century the situation changed profoundly: the Magistratura dei Beni inculti was founded. It mapped the territory, a preparatory action for public works aimed at deforesting, reclaiming and irrigating the countryside which, having become fertile and productive, saw the proliferation of villas. This building genre was very successful because it responded to practical and aesthetic needs: the control center of agricultural and wine production and a symbol of the economic and social status of the client family, who spent long holiday periods in the hinterland, coinciding with the periods of sowing and harvesting.
Thus, the so-called Civilization of the Venetian villa was born, which saw in Andrea Palladio (1508 – 1580) its most precious gem, but which actually continued until the end of the Republic of Venice and further on.

The hills around Conegliano, which has always been a place dedicated to wine production, saw dozens of villas flourish. Some of those were built by important architects such as Baldassare Longhena (17th century) and Giuseppe Jappelli (19th century), who designed nearby of the villa Gera Sinopoli castle, which has recently opened its doors to visitors.

In the province of Treviso, the main villas that can be visited are:

Villa Papadopoli Giol in San Polo di Piave

Villa Barbaro in Maser

About eight kilometers from Asolo, in the locality of Maser, there is the famous Villa Barbaro, which was built around 1560 by Andrea Palladio, admirably frescoed by Paolo Veronese and plastically decorated by Alessandro Vittoria. Commissioned by the Venetian brothers Daniele and Marcantonio Barbaro in one of the most beautiful sites in the Treviso area, it has a residential central body flanked by two lateral barchesse with two dovecotes for services.
The avenue, flanked by sculptures, creates an ideal connection between the villa and the surrounding countryside, between the façade, characterized by Ionic semi-columns and pediment full of stucco decorations, and the Fontana del Nettuno, located beyond the street. Another authentic Palladian jewel is the Tempietto, placed as the architectural backdrop of the carriage road; it was built in 1580, the year of its author’s death, in that circular shape which he considered ideal for sacred buildings. It was conceived as a noble chapel and, at the same time, as a church for the village.

Villa Revedin Bolasco

In Borgo Treviso in Castelfranco Veneto, beyond the Ponte delle Guglie sul Musonello, where two villas Corner once stood, known as “del Paradiso” and renovated in 1607 by Vincenzo Scamozzi from Vicenza (1548 – 1616), there is Villa Revedin Bolasco, built by architect Giovan Battista Meduna towards the middle of the 19th century in Neo-Renaissance style. The interior, normally not open to visitors, retains a beautiful semi-circular cantilevered staircase, a large hall and suggestive stables with original furnishings. The building is immersed in a beautiful park, designed by Meduna, but modified in the following decades by the French Marc Guignon and Antonio Caregaro Negrin, enriched by a pond, a Moorish greenhouse and an amphitheater – actually a riding track – surrounded by fifty-two statues created by the Marinali for the pre-existing villa.
The park, owned by the University of Padua since 1967, won the first place in the 16th edition of Concorso Parchi pubblici italiani in 2018. It can be visited on weekends and holidays.

Villa Corner Chiminelli

Not far from Castelfranco Veneto, in Sant’Andrea beyond the Muson, there is this pretty country residence built after 1564 on a previous building that existed already in 1477. For a long time, it was considered one of the properties of the Corner family, but recent studies have identified the Venetian nobleman Francesco Soranzo, parish priest of Sant’Andrea from 1563 to 1595, as the original owner. After several changes of ownership, at the end of the Second World War the villa was purchased by the Chiminelli family who provided for the restoration of the building and the creation of an interesting ethnographic museum set up in the rustic annexes.
The building has a basement floor and a single raised noble floor. Noteworthy are the frescoes made by Benedetto Caliari, brother of Paolo Veronese, and the eighteenth-century sculptures, similar to the ways of the Bonazza.

Villa Emo in Fanzolo

Villa Emo, about ten kilometers from Castelfranco Veneto, is one of Andrea Palladio‘s absolute masterpieces in villa architecture. Built in 1560, it is one of the architect’s few entirely finished works; it perfectly expresses the need for agricultural representativeness and functionality that is the basis of the concept of Villa in the Veneto of the sixteenth century. The fresco decoration that enriches the interiors created by Giovan Battista Zelotti, a collaborator of Paolo Veronese, is also of considerable importance.
The villa, surrounded by greenery, is surrounded by a precious Italian garden.

Castello Giustinian Ciani Basetti in Roncade

Villa Lattes in Istrana

Built in 1715 by the young architect Giorgio Massari (Venice, 1687 – 1766) for the Venetian merchant Paolo Tamagnino, the villa owes its name to the Lattes family that acquired it in 1842. Its last owner, the lawyer Bruno Lattes, has carefully restored the building where he collected automata and carillons, bought during his many travels, giving life to one of the most important European collections. Upon his death, the building and the collection were bequeathed to the Municipality of Treviso, but since 2004 they have belonged to the Municipality of Istrana, which has restored the property and opened it to the public.
The building complex, mindful of the Palladian tradition, has an emerging residential body flanked by two curvilinear barchesse that embrace the ellipsoidal front garden. Along the enclosure, there is the noble chapel, which houses an altarpiece by Jacopo Amigoni; as used at that time, it was accessible from the villa and from the road, so that also the villagers could enter inside.