Vicenza is the city of Palladio.
The patricians Vicenza, which already in the Renaissance had begun to build important buildings in the sixteenth century enriched the city with splendid monuments signed mostly by Palladio and his pupils.
On foot or by bicycle, in the old town you can admire some of the most famous buildings designed and built by the great architect from Vicenza as the Palladian Basilica and the Loggia del Capitanio facing opposite each other on Piazza dei Signori.
Do not miss the splendid Teatro Olimpico, Palladio's last masterpiece, then completed by the pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi, and Palazzo Chiericati, home of the Civic Art Gallery, both in Piazza Matteotti.
Necessary step towards the Berici hills are the Palladian Villa Almerico Capra, known as the Rotonda, and the nearby Villa Valmarana ai Nani, so called because of the stone sculptures lined up today on the boundary wall is famous for its frescoes by Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo.
