Return to Vicenza photos

Vicenza is a beautiful medium-sized (about 100,000 people) city on the Fiume (River) Bacchliglione, just 68 kilometers west of Venice (Venezia). The city is essentially a reflection of the work of the famous architect Andrea di Pietro, known as Palladio, who designed and built dozens of the buildings in the city. Perhaps not as large and beautiful as his Basilica, Duomo, and Loggia del Capitanio, but certainly very significant historically is the Teatro Olimpico (built with Scamozzi), said to have been the first covered theater in Europe (1582). Unfortunately, there are no pictures of any of these works on this web page! The only picture from Vicenza itself is the first public mechanical clock, placed in its tower in the 1300s. The other pictures here are from outlying areas.

Villa Rotonda, or Villa Capra, designed and begun by Palladio in 1550 and completed by Scamozzi in 1606, is the most famous of Palladio’s villas. This beautiful belvedere, with its distinctive design of a circle within a cube, commands a beautiful view of Vicenza.

Villa Barbaro is Palladio’s version of a "country estate." The Barbara brothers considered themselves to be architects as well, and had frequent disagreements with Palladio concerning the design, so that this is not "pure" Palladio. Still, it is an impressive (if somewhat overdone) home.

Carlo Scarpa designed a modern cemetery near Vicenza which has become a destination for architectural students. The central courtyard contains traditional above-ground family graves, and the courtyard is lined by typical mausoleum vaults. The traditional graves contain all members of the family—for a period of 30 years. At the end of that time, unless the family pays for continued care, the graves are opened and the bones are scattered. The architectural attraction of this cemetery is the area outside the courtyard, which features lawns, pools, artificial streams, etc., almost all made of unfinished concrete. Two modern tombs are shown here.