Villa Foscari

Mira, Italy

Villa Foscari is designed by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. It is also known as La Malcontenta, a nickname which it received when the spouse of one of the Foscaris was locked up in the house because she allegedly didn't live up to her conjugal duty.

The villa was commissioned by the brothers Nicolo and Luigi Foscari, members of a patrician Venetian family that produced Francesco Foscari, one of Venice's most noted doges. It was built between 1558 and 1560. It is located beside the Brenta canal and is raised on a pedestal, which is characteristic of Palladio's villas; this pedestal is more massive than most of Palladio's villas because it was not possible to construct a subterranean basement on the site.

The villa lacks the agricultural buildings which were an integral part of some of the other Palladian villas. It was used for official receptions, such as that given for Henry III of France in 1574.

The interior of the villa is richly decorated with frescoes by Battista Franco and Giambattista Zelotti. Mythological scenes from Ovid alternate with allegories of the Arts and Virtues. As at other Palladian villas, the paintings reflect villa life in, for example, Astraea showing Jove the pleasures of the Earth. The frescoes have dulled over time, signs of the increasing threat that air pollution poses to works of art.

In 1973, Antonio Foscari (a descendant of the Foscari lineage) and his wife, Barbara del Vicario, recovered the villa, and have undertaken a painstaking process of restoring the villa to its original grandeur.

Since 1996 the building has been conserved as part of the World Heritage Site 'City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto'. Today, the villa is open to the public for visits on a limited basis.

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Address

Via dei Turisti 9, Mira, Italy
See all sites in Mira

Details

Founded: 1558-1560
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Paul Popa (2 years ago)
We visited this location on a boat tour. The architecture and the history is just awesome! The history surounding this place is worth hiring a guide. We ware lucky that we had someone guide us through the whole experience. We found out about the "Vitruvian Man" proportions used by the architect when building this nice villa. Nothing much more to say then, go visit!
Riza G (2 years ago)
I was expecting a bit more for the price we had to pay, some areas are closed off. Other villas that are close by charge less than half the price and has more to offer and see. They have informative cards about the villa in different languages (Italian, English and German, maybe French as well). Great architecture and arts within the villa though.
Nils Paellmann (2 years ago)
Another superlative villa by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), preserved from the 16th century as if in a time warp. Just a short drive from Venice or also reachable by boat via the Brenta Canal. It was conceived for the brothers Nicolo and Alvise Foscari and nearly complete by 1560. One of the interior rooms currently features a sculpture designed by Zaha Hadid (1950-2016), whose design was derived from the dimensions of the villa. The rooms themselves appear surprisingly livable with nice views of the canal and the garden.
Margaux Barbier (3 years ago)
Beautiful villa. It’s a pity that the staff was so cold & that we couldn’t visit the kitchens (lower part of the villa).
Andrea Rade (6 years ago)
One of the best villa of palladio, the vacation house of ca Foscari
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