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The Brenta Villas
In the middle of the 1500, many noble Venetian families decided to build their holiday houses
in the most delightful plains and hills of the Serenissima territories. Thus begins the history of the Venetian villas at the same time country houses and centres of authority
These villas are more than 4000 (20 of them can be visited), scattered everywhere: along the road that goes from Mestre to Treviso (the Terraglio), along the Brenta river that used to join Venice to Padua (Ville della Riviera del Brenta), on the hills near Treviso and Vicenza, and in the Berici and Euganean Hills. Some of these villas are works of famous architects such as Palladio (27 Venetian villas by Palladio are on the UNESCO list, as World Heritage).
Cities of art of Veneto Region
Taste, Art, History, Passion: a theme for each direction
Padova: history and art ››
Cittadella: walled town ››
Treviso and the Marca ››
Venice ››
The lagoon and islands ››
Verona among history and passions ››
Vicenza and Palladio ››
The walled towns ››
The Brenta Villas ››
Villa Pisani
On the Brenta's riverbanks, along the stretch that joins Venice to Padua, you can admire all the villas the Venetian nobles built as country houses from the XV to the XVI century. They used to be reached directly by boat from Venice starting from Villa Pisani in Strà, the most known and visited villa of the Riviera. During its history this magnificent Villa hosted Doges, Kings and Emperors, while nowadays it is a National Museum with a lot of art pieces, first of all the fresco “ Glory of the Pisani’s family” by Gianbattista Tiepolo. The Villa also has a big park which covers an area of 11 hectares and contains one of the best preserved maze in Europe.
From Abano to the Est: The Brenta Villas
In Strà you can also visit the Villa Foscarini Rossi home of an important permanent exhibition of ancient and contemporary shoes, while going up the Brenta river in Mira, there are the Villa Widman (1) and Barchessa Valmarana (2).
In Gambarare di Oriago, near Mira, stands Villa Gradenigo the most ancient of the Riviera, while designed by Palladio and part of the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, is Villa “La Malcontenta” (3), which piano nobile is decorated with a fresco cycle inspired by Ovid “Metamorphoses”. Nowadays it is possible to visit these villas on a cruise along the Brenta river from Padua to St. Mark Square in Venice, all through what once were the Doge’s territories.
