Page 157 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

VICENZA  155

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
A large hall is all that
remains of the 15th-century Practical Information
Palazzo della Ragione. * 116,000. n Piazza Matteotti
12 (0444 32 08 54). ( Tue & Thu.
Torre di Piazza, _ May & Jun: concert season;
built in the Sep & Oct: theatre season; end
12th century, Jun–early Jul: Concerti in Villa.
is an impressive ∑ vicenzae.org
Santa 82 m (269 ft) high.
Corona Transport
Teatro V @ Piazza Stazione.
Olimpico
Museo
Civico The lion of St Mark gazing down on
Piazza dei Signori
BARBARA P Piazza dei Signori

exhibitions, concerts and guided tours
S Basilica: Tel 0444 32 36 81. Open for
only, when it is possible to visit the
CONTRA loggia (call tourist office for timings). &
This square at the heart of Vicenza
is dominated by the Palazzo della
. Piazza dei Signori
Palladio’s elegant buildings flank Ragione, often referred to as the
the Piazza dei Signori, including the Basilica. Its green, copper-clad
majestic two-tier colonnades of the roof is shaped like an upturned
16th-century “Basilica”, built around boat with a balustrade bristling
the old Palazzo della Ragione. with the statues of Greek and
Roman gods. The colonnades
P I A Z Z A
were designed by Palladio in
The Quartiere delle Barche
D E L L E B I A D E
1549 as a facing to support the
P I A Z Z A D E I C O N T R A C AT E N A contains numerous attractive city’s 15th-century town hall,
palaces built in the 14th-
CONTRA PIANCOLI
S I G N O R I C GAZZOLE century Venetian Gothic style. The Basilica is now used as an
which had begun to subside.
exhibition space. Beside it stands
P I A Z Z A E R B E the 12th-century Torre di Piazza.
D E L L' ~
The Loggia del Capitaniato,
to the northwest, was built by
P PALLADIO
upper rooms contain the city’s
C O N T R A CONTRA SAN PAOLO Palladio in 1571: the Loggia’s
P E S C H E R I E
council chamber.
V E C C H I E
P Contrà Porti
P R O T I C O N T R A P E S C A R I A CONTRA PONTE SAN MICHELE Contrà (an abbreviation of
contrada, or district) is the Vicenza
R E T R O N E dialect word for street. On one
side of the Contrà is a series of
C O N T R A pretty Gothic buildings with
La Rotonda Ponte San Michele painted windows and ornate
balconies, reminiscent of Venice
Monte Berico This elegant stone bridge, and a reminder that Vicenza was
Villa Valmarana Piazza delle Erbe, built in 1620, provides once part of the Venetian empire.
ai Nani the city’s market square, lovely views of the Several elegant Palladian palazzi
is overlooked by a 13th- surrounding town.
century prison tower. stand on this street. Palazzo
Porto Barbarano (No. 11), Palazzo
Thiene (No. 12) and Palazzo
Iseppo da Porto (No. 21) illustrate
the variety of Palladio’s style –
Casa Pigafetta all share Classical elements, but
This striking 15th-century each is unique. An intriguing
house was the birthplace detail is that Palazzo Thiene
of Antonio Pigafetta, who appears to be of stone, but it
in 1519 set sail round the is in fact built of cheap brick,
world with Magellan. rendered to look like masonry.
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