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DAY 1 VERONA (UNESCO SITE SINCE 2000)

Arrival at Verona Airport. Afternoon city tour. The old heart of Romeo and Juliet town beats between Brà square, Delle Erbe square and Dei Signori square, symbols of a grand past among Roman monuments or castles and medieval buildings, traces of the power of the Della Scala Lords. In the alleys and palaces you recall the romantic and fascinating atmosphere of the two Shakespeare's lovers, which makes Verona the town of lovers. While in the numerous churches, from the Dome to San Giorgio in Braida, from San Zeno to Sant'Anastasia you can discover the old Roman and Gothic town. Local cuisine based on traditional dishes such as gnocchi and the famous pastissada de caval.

Overnight Verona.

DAY 2 VICENZA (UNESCO SITE SINCE 1994)

Vicenza is among the least celebrated of the cities which are centres of Italian art and deserves to be considered on its own merits. Vicenza is situated in fertile country along overland routes which have always been busy, and the abundance of water was crucial to its rapidly becoming industrialised. It was also the preferred site of monasteries for the minor religious orders, and its magnificent churches, like the one dedicated to San Felice and San Fortunato which was built in the Romanesque period, or the Duomo, still bear witness of the fact. But Vicenza is above all the city in which Palladio’s architecture triumphs: it is in evidence round every corner and in any view of the city, and it is there in everything he did from his first major work, the Basilica, to his last, the Olympic Theatre.

Overnight Vicenza.

DAY 3 PALLADIAN VILLAS

Visit to the Palladian Villas in the surroundings  of Vicenza:

* VILLA VALMARANA AI NANI: The role of an architect does not only involve erecting new buildings but also re-using existing structures. Palladio was a brilliant architect in that he could do both, as is shown by this Palazzo, built in 1566, which incorporates several older buildings. This may have been a constraint but not a serious one, in that the facade is definitely Palladian with gigantic Corinthian pilasters rising high from the basement plinth rise to support the ever-present trabeation with attic above.

* LA ROTONDA: The Villa Almerico-Capra marks the passage of Vicenza’s two brilliant architects. The villa itself was the work of Palladio who thought it was the ideal location for a beautiful building. He designed a square building with four facades, each with a portico supported by Ionic columns at the top of a wide flight of steps. The dome-shaped roof above the main drawing-room was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1606.

* VILLA BARBARIGO: Among villas erected near Vicenza for Venetian patricians, Villa Barbarigo distinguishes itself because it was built for a dogal family , that in the centuries loyally served Serenissima. For this reason it deserves the title of Villa of the Dogi (definition that in the past some authors had not correctly attributed to all the venetian villas). Here everything cooperates to glorify the Barbarigo family: the majesty of the architecture on four floors, the scenographic and solemn façade crowned by daggers and flanked with two wings of porticos, the wide cycle of frescoes that fills an area of approximately 430 sqm.

Transfer to Verona Apt.

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