Padova e dintorni

Padua is best known for its great artistic past paid homage to by the flow of tourists and for being home to a prestigious, very old, university.

Not to be missed is the Scrovegni chapel with its precious frescoes by Giotto that have recently been restored to their former glory.

Padua is also known as the city of St. Anthony, the famous Portuguese Franciscan monk. You will find the saint's remains, that have attracted pilgrims from around the world, at the Basilica dedicated to him.

And a few minutes by car or bus from the Hotel Villa Giulietta stand these fine stately homes along the Brenta Riviera:

 

Villa Pisani

Majestic Villa Pisani, also called the Nazionale, with its splendid garden, is one of the most outstanding examples of a Veneto Villa on the Brent Riviera.

Situated at Stra, it is opposite the Naviglio del Brenta canal. It is now home to the national museum that houses works of art and furnishings from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries.

Inside you can see works by Giambattista Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista Crosato, Giuseppe Zais, Jacopo Guarana, Carlo Bevilacqua, Francesco Simonini, Jacopo Amigoni and Andrea Urbani.

The illustrious guests included: Napoleone Bonaparte, Charles IV of Spain, Czar Alexander I and Ferdinand II of Bourbon, King of Naples.

Villa Pisani is also famous for its "love maze", completely composed of box hedges, one of the three hedged mazes that can still be enjoyed and walked through in Italy.

 

Villa Foscarini Rossi

The Residence of Marco Foscarini, Public Prosecutor of Venice and future doge, friend of writer Gaspare Gozzi, author of the famous story of Princess Turandot later set to music by Giacomo Puccini.

Frescoes, highly decorated columns reminiscent of baroque stage sets and allegorical representations of War, Peace, the Arts and Sciences, the Temple, Genius and Fame.

The Barchessa hall, with its outstanding acoustics is often the venue of concerts and receptions.

Villa Foscarini Rossi now houses the Shoe Museum, celebrating the fashion item and symbol of the upper class district where the best manufacturers are to be found.

 

La Malcontenta

Villa Foscari called La Malcontenta is a Veneto stately home designed by Andrea Palladio better known as Palladium, in 1559 at Malcontenta.

In keeping with tradition, Villa Malcontenta, is still without electric lighting using candles instead.

It appears that the stately home owes its name, in English the discontented woman, to the story of a lady of the house shut up between those walls alone because of her libertine temperament.

(liberally taken from Wikipedia)