Villa Chiericati

Vancimuglio, Italy

Villa Chiericati was designed for Giovanni Chiericati by the architect Andrea Palladio in the early 1550s. In 1996 UNESCO included the villa in the World Heritage Site City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.

The villa is square and a portico projects from its principal facade. The principal rooms are built upon a piano nobile above a semi-basement. The upper floor is very much of secondary importance. The design of the villa was to be the prototype for Palladio's later works at the Villa Rotonda and the Villa Malcontenta.

Work on the villa stopped after the death of Palladio's client. It was not finally completed until after it had been purchased by Ludovico Porto in 1574. In 1584 he employed the architect Domenico Groppino, who had collaborated with Palladio on other projects, to complete the villa.There is some debate as to the extent Groppino influenced the eventual design of the building. While the portico is undoubtedly by the hand of Palladio himself, the position of the windows is at variance with the architect's own advice in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, where he warns against placing windows near the corner of a building lest it weaken the structure (the villa does in fact reveal signs of settlement here).

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1550s
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Marco Mosole (10 months ago)
Could not visit inside
Mauro (2 years ago)
Villa Chiericati is located in the hamlet of Vancimuglio in the Grumolo delle Abbadesse area, the brick entrance portal opens along the main road that connects Vicenza and Padua, and leads to the villa through a long straight avenue. It was included in the UNESCO heritage list in 1996, together with the other Palladian villas in the Veneto.
Renato GRIGGIO (3 years ago)
One of the many jewels we have in our Veneto region, it's a shame it isn't inhabited and maintained. Let's just hope that in the near future there will be funding for a total recovery because it is an ancient villa that really deserves to be renovated and then there will be the possibility of visiting it.
Francesca Piarulli (4 years ago)
Beautiful but closed the gate and the impression of abandonment
Mark R Davis (4 years ago)
Abandoned and in ruins. Private road from the state road but you can park from the church in front then approach it on foot.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.