Itinerary 3 – The Grand Villas and the Historic Center

In the morning, visit Villa Pisani in Bagnolo di Lonigo, one of the first works by the celebrated architect Andrea Palladio. Following this, visit the Rocca Pisana, located on the southernmost hill of the Berici Mountains, an absolute masterpiece by Vincenzo Scamozzi.

Lunch break and in the early afternoon, visit Villa San Fermo, the last noble villa built in Vicenza in the nineteenth century on the site of an ancient monastery.

Next, descend into the center of Lonigo to see and visit the magnificent 19th-century Cathedral, the surviving medieval tower of the 14th-century castle, known as the Torrione, and then proceed to the elegant Piazza Garibaldi.

Here you will see the beautiful Palazzo Pisani and, through its grand arch, pass into the nearby Piazza Matteotti, overlooked by the ancient parish church known as Chiesa Vecchia and the 19th-century municipal theater Giuseppe Verdi.

By car and on foot

FULL DAY

For everyone – challenging

(check opening hours and access procedures for each site)

along the route

Observation Points

Villa Pisani Bonetti in Bagnolo di Lonigo

(1)

Included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, it was designed in 1541 by a young Andrea Palladio who drew inspiration from the volumes of classical buildings, reinterpreting their austere monumentality. The villa and the renovated Barchessa host international cultural and contemporary art events organized by the Bonetti Bedeschi family.

Rocca Pisana

(2)

Designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1567, the Rocca Pisana is considered an absolute masterpiece of the Venetian Renaissance. Its distinctive volumes, with the elegant octagonal dome, harmoniously blend into the hill overlooking the city of Lonigo.

Villa San Fermo

(3)

The monumental Entrance of the Rivers (designed by Francesco Bagnara in the 19th century) is the main entrance to the nineteenth-century villa of the Giovanelli princes. The work takes its name from the statues placed above the arches, which allegorically represent the main Italian rivers. The background is made scenic by a complex arrangement of romantic grottos.

Church of the Most Holy Redeemer

(4)

19th-century Cathedral

The medieval tower called Torrione

(5)

The first sources date back to 976, but it appears that the walls of Lonigo Castle were already built by the Romans (150-100 BC), who founded several colonies in the Vicenza area to guard the mountains and counter the invasions of the Alemanni.
The castle, under the Counts of Vicenza, was located on a hill along the Novo river. Under Scaliger and Venetian rule, sieges and destruction ceased, but by the 16th century Lonigo Castle was almost in ruins as the City of Vicenza had suspended its maintenance. Today only the Keep (Torrione), approximately 33 meters high, and the Scaliger Tower, which became a prison (Prison Tower), remain.