Vicenza

 

Vicenza (Vicénsa or Vicènsa in Veneto) is an Italian town of 111 764 inhabitants, the capital of the province of the same name in Veneto. It is located on the northern edge of the Po Valley, along the Bacchiglione and Retrone rivers and at the foot of the Berici hills.

The city is a destination for cultural tourism for its artistic heritage and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for the numerous architectural contributions of Andrea Palladio. It is an important industrial center composed of small and medium-sized enterprises. The productive fabric is driven by the metalworking, textile and goldsmith sectors, the latter reaching over a third of total goldsmith exports in the capital.

 

Monuments and places of interest

UNESCO world heritage

On 15 December 1994, at the 18th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, in Phuket, the “Vicenza City of Palladio” site was included in the list of world heritage sites according to the following criteria:

Vicenza constitutes an exceptional artistic creation for the numerous architectural contributions of Andrea Palladio, which integrated into a historical fabric, determine its overall character.
Thanks to its typical architectural structure, the city has exerted a strong influence on the history of architecture, dictating the rules of urbanism in most European countries and throughout the world.
In addition to the 23 Palladian monuments and the 3 villas in the city, in 1996 another 21 Palladian villas present in the Veneto territory were included in the World Heritage List. On this occasion the name of the site became: "City of Vicenza and the Palladian villas in the Veneto".

 

Civil architecture

Basilica Palladiana, rebuilt starting in 1549 by Andrea Palladio, is the most famous public building. Overlooking Piazza dei Signori, it was already the fulcrum of not only political activities (city council, court) but also economic ones in the Middle Ages[25]. To the original building, built in Gothic forms, Palladio added his classical loggias in white stone, solving the difficult static problems and adopting, thanks to the use of serliana, an ingenious stratagem to hide the different distances between the pillars inherited from previous construction sites . The ambitious inverted ship's hull roof, covered with copper plates, partly raised by large archivolts and dating back to the mid-15th century, was damaged during a bombing in the Second World War and rebuilt; it was the subject of a sophisticated restoration that began in 2007 and concluded in 2012. In 2014 it was declared a national monument. Next to the Basilica stands the Bissara Tower, built starting from the 12th century, still one of the tallest buildings in Vicenza with its 82 m. It houses 5 bells in the key of E.
Teatro Olimpico, begun in 1580 as Palladio's last project and finished by his pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi, is the first example of a stable covered theater of the modern era. It was completed posthumously limited to the auditorium complete with loggia and the proscenium. Scamozzi designed the wooden scenes, of great effect for their perspective illusionism and attention to detail, which can still be admired today. It was inaugurated on 3 March 1585 with the performance of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and is still used today. The scenes, created specifically for that representation, depict the seven streets of the city of Thebes and exploit the technique of accelerated perspective to make the space appear much longer than it actually is (a few metres). The theatre, with the large proscenium wall, the many statues and decorations, was made of wood and stucco and was built on commission from the Olympic Academy inside a disused medieval fortress (the Palazzo del Territorio, already used as a prison and as a powder magazine).
Palazzo Barbaran Da Porto, the sumptuous residence for the Vicenza nobleman Montano Barbarano is the only large city palace that Andrea Palladio managed to create entirely. It is located in Contrà Porti and was built between 1570 and 1575. It is the home of the Palladio Museum and the Andrea Palladio International Center for Architectural Studies (CISA).
Palazzo del Capitanio (Loggia del Capitaniato), a late work by Andrea Palladio, overlooks the central Piazza dei Signori, right in front of the Palladian Basilica. The city municipal council meets on the main floor. The palace was designed in 1565 and built from 1571 to 1572 as a residence for the representative of the Republic of Venice in the city. It was decorated by Lorenzo Rubini; inside there are nine paintings by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo. The structure is founded on a giant composite order. On the ground floor there is a large loggia, covered by large vaults, which supports a main floor with a large hall, the Sala Bernarda, enriched with sixteenth-century frescoes from one of the Porto villas. The facade of the building is adorned with four giant semi-columns, in exposed brick, which reach under the balustrade of the attic, and three large arches. The decorations are made of Istrian stone and above all stucco. The columns were designed by Palladio to be covered with white plaster, playing with the contrast of the red bricks without plaster on the white stucco. On the main facade the decorations represent the personification of rivers. The side elevation on Contrà Monte, modeled on the Roman triumphal arches, is decorated with stucco bas-reliefs and two allegorical statues placed in the intercolumns, commemorating the victory of the Spanish-Venetian fleet against the Ottomans in the battle of Lepanto (7 October 1571), to which the people of Vicenza contributed. The loggia on the ground floor, enclosed by a high wrought iron gate, a harmonious space characterized by niches and columns, houses some plaques in memory of the fallen in the wars.
Palazzo Chiericati, the large palace located in Piazza Matteotti, home to the civic art gallery, was built between 1550 and 1680 based on a design by Palladio as a private noble residence. It consists of a central body with two symmetrical wings slightly set back, equipped with large loggias at the level of the main floor. The harmonious façade is structured in two superimposed orders, a solution never used until then for a private city residence, with a crowning of statues. Located where the Bacchiglione and the Retrone once converged, the architect raised it to avoid flooding. On the frieze of the lower loggia metopes, triglyphs and bucrania alternate.
Palazzo Leoni Montanari, located in Contrà Santa Corona, built in 1678 and completed in the first half of the eighteenth century, is a baroque building erected where the Leoni Montanari already owned their own buildings, housing rooms for silk spinning, decorated with frescoes by Paolo Pagani with episodes of Greco-Roman mythology. In the 18th century it underwent a revisitation in neoclassical style. It houses a private museum (owned by the Intesa Sanpaolo banking group) where some masterpieces of Venetian painting and a collection of Russian icons are exhibited.
Palazzo Porto (also called Porto Festa), located in Contrà Porti, is one of the two palaces designed in the city by Palladio for the Porto family (the other is Palazzo Porto in Piazza Castello); commissioned by the newly married nobleman Iseppo da Porto (around 1544), the building saw a rather long planning phase and an even longer - and troubled - phase in its construction, which remained partly unfinished.
Palazzo Porto in Piazza Castello (Palazzo Porto Breganze), is located in Piazza Castello, is a noble palace designed in around 1571 for Alessandro Porto, attributed to Andrea Palladio and remained unfinished. The section of the palace is clear evidence of the unfortunate outcome of a Palladian construction site. To the left of the fragment, the old fifteenth-century house of the Porto family is clearly visible, which was destined to be progressively demolished as the construction site of the new palace progressed, which evidently did not happen.
Casa Pigafetta, built in 1440, was the home of Antonio Pigafetta, who reworked it in 1481 until it took on its current appearance. It is a rare example of flowery Gothic, with singular decorative scores centered on the twisted motif. The side doors are trefoiled, in arabesque. The Renaissance portal is flanked by a motto that alludes to the family coat of arms.
Palazzo Pojana, located in Corso Palladio; was born from the union of two building units separated by the small road Do Rode (Two Wheels), probably built in 1566 following a request from Vincenzo Pojana to the Municipality of Vicenza in 1561. It is attributed to Palladio, who designed it around 1540, and is included in the list of 23 Palladian monuments of the city which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Palazzo Trissino (Trissino Baston, also known as Palazzo Trissino al Corso) is a building located along Corso Palladio in Vicenza and since 1901 it has been the main headquarters of the Municipality of Vicenza. The palace was designed in 1588 by Vincenzo Scamozzi (student of Andrea Palladio) and was built for Count Galeazzo Trissino between 1592 and 1667. It was then completed by Antonio Pizzocaro and subsequently expanded in the eighteenth century by Ottone Calderari. The building is characterized by the presence of classical elements in the façade overlooking the Corso and is structured around the square of the central courtyard.
Palazzo Valmarana, located in Corso Fogazzaro, the facade of Palazzo Valmarana is one of the most extraordinary and singular Palladian creations. For the first time in a palace, a giant order embraces the entire vertical development of the building, a solution that originates from Palladian experiments on the façades of religious buildings. On the façade of Palazzo Valmarana the stratification of two systems is evident: the giant order of the six composite pilasters overlaps with the smaller order of Corinthian pilasters, even more evidently at the edges where the lack of the final pilaster reveals the underlying system, which supports the bas-relief of a soldier with the Valmarana insignia. It belongs to the Braga Rosa family.
Ca' d'Oro (Palazzo Caldogno da Schio), overlooking Corso Palladio, the palace was built in the fourteenth century in late Gothic style. The ground floor was rearranged by Lorenzo da Bologna, author of the rich portal; the atrium and the interior were renovated at the end of the eighteenth century. In the atrium and courtyard you can admire a small lapidary collected by Count Giovanni Da Schio in the 19th century, with amphorae, epigraphs, milestones and a sarcophagus from the 5th century.
Villa Almerico Capra known as the Rotonda, built by Andrea Palladio starting from around 1566 close to the city, is an innovative suburban villa originally intended for representative functions, but also as a quiet refuge for meditation and study. It is one of the very first examples of the application of a central plan to a private building. It consists of a square building, completely symmetrical and inscribed in a perfect circle. Each of the four identical facades is equipped with a forepart with a loggia which leads to the central, circular room, surmounted by a dome (concluded by Scamozzi). Formal elements intended to suggest a sense of sacredness are also included in the decorative apparatus. Located on the rounded top of a small hill next to Monte Berico, its plan is rotated 45 degrees with respect to the cardinal points to allow each room similar solar exposure.
Villa Trissino, located in viale Cricoli, is a Venetian villa that belonged to the humanist Giangiorgio Trissino and traditionally linked to the figure by the architect Andrea Palladio (although not designed by the latter). Tradition has it that right here, in the second half of the 1530s, the noble G. Trissino (1478-1550) met the young stonemason Andrea di Pietro busy on the construction site of the villa. Somehow sensing his potential and talent, Trissino took care of his training, introduced him to the Vicenza aristocracy and, within a few years, transformed him into an architect on whom he imposed the noble name of Palladio.
Villa Valmarana "Ai Nani", located on the slopes of Monte Berico, a few hundred meters from Palladio's Rotonda. Property of the Valmarana noble family for approximately three centuries, it is still partly inhabited by the family and open to the public. The important cycle of frescoes housed inside the Palazzina and the Guesthouse, dated 1757, is the work of Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo. The villa's nickname is due to the 17 stone sculptures representing dwarves lined up on the surrounding wall, once scattered throughout the park.
Arco delle Scalette is a celebratory arch located in Piazzale Fraccon and built in 1595, the design of which has been attributed to Palladio (circa 1576). It marks the beginning of one of the climbing routes to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Monte Berico (built in the early fifteenth century), the one consisting of the Scalette, 192 steps divided into ramps and which represented the only access point from the city to the sanctuary before of the creation, in the mid-eighteenth century, of the porticoes by Francesco Muttoni.

 

Religious architecture

Some of the main historic churches of Vicenza:
Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunciata, built in several phases, dome and northern side portal are by Andrea Palladio who, most likely, drew up an overall design, which however was implemented in two phases: from 1558 to 1559 the cornice was placed above the windows and the tambour was built, and from 1564 to January 1566 the dome was put in place. The characteristic shape of the lantern, abstract and devoid of decoration, is replicated on the top of the domes of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, being developed in the same years, and is also present in some Palladian reconstructions of ancient temples with a central plan, such as the Mausoleum of Romulus on the Appian Way.
Basilica Sanctuary of the Madonna of Monte Berico, built in two stages, first in 1428, then completed in 1703 by Carlo Borella, is made up of two churches dating back to two different eras: the first in Gothic style, the second a basilica in classical style and baroque. Inside the adjoining convent the painting The Supper of Saint Gregory the Great by Paolo Veronese is visible. The bell tower, from 1826, was designed by Antonio Piovene. The construction commemorates the two apparitions of the Madonna to a pious woman from Vicenza, Vincenza Pasini, who lived in a small village in the province, and the liberation of the city from a terrible plague. The bell tower houses 15 B2 bells, the oldest dating back to 1821.
Basilica of Saints Felice and Fortunato, was born in the 4th century in a cemetery and was majestically expanded in the 5th century to house the relics of the martyrs to whom it is dedicated; after the destruction of the city and the church itself by the Hungarians in the 9th century, it was rebuilt in the 10th century at the behest of Bishop Rodolfo and with the contribution of Emperor Otto II. It is an early Christian basilica that was initially rectangular, then doubled and divided into three naves. The Benedictines, following the Hungarian invasions, built a new baptistery and the semicircular apse, adding the bell tower and the rose window, as well as a sequence of blind arches and a Byzantine cross on the façade. During the Baroque era the appearance of the church was profoundly modified, enriching it with altars and decorations, which were then removed in a twentieth-century restoration which brought the building back to its previous appearance. Next to the basilica there is a small museum exhibition, inaugurated in the 2000s, with archaeological evidence from the church and the nearby Roman necropolis. The tower, once a defense tower, now used as a bell tower, houses 10 bells in G flat major. The fourth is from 1707 cast by the famous Antonio Maria de Maria.
Church Temple of Santa Corona, built in the thirteenth century by the will of Blessed Bartolomeo da Breganze, bishop of Vicenza, to preserve one of the thorns of Christ's crown, is one of the oldest and most important in the city and the Valmarana Chapel is located there, designed by Palladio, who was buried in the same church. The church underwent a major restoration in 2012.
Church of San Vincenzo, the church dedicated to San Vincenzo of Zaragoza - co-patron saint of Vicenza, together with the Madonna of Monte Berico - overlooks Piazza dei Signori, in front of the Palladian Basilica, interrupting the uniform texture of the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà. The façade was erected between 1614 and 1617 based on a design by the architects Paolo and Pietro Borini; it has two loggias with three arches, in Corinthian and composite style: the loggias are surmounted by a crown showing Christ mourned by angels, by Giambattista Albanese, who was also responsible for the five statues of the pediment (the saints Vincenzo, Carpoforo, Leonzio, Felice and Fortunato). Behind the loggia is the ancient church from 1387, offset from the building that incorporated it, with the altar facing east. The interior of the church, modified in 1499 and in the eighteenth century by Francesco Muttoni, was restored in the 1920s. Of note: the fourteenth-century ark by Simone Sarego; the valuable rococo main altar by Bernardo Tabacco and the altar of the Pietà, an early marble masterpiece by Orazio Marinali (1689). Inside the portico, from the cross vaults, on the back wall, red marble stele (Giovanni Antonio Grazioli, 1583) engraved with the official linear measurements of the Magnificent Community of Vicenza.
Church of San Lorenzo, built by the Minorites at the end of the 13th century, in Gothic style in its Lombard-Po Valley version of the 13th century. It is located in the central Piazza San Lorenzo, along Corso Fogazzaro and is officiated by the Conventual Franciscans. The 10 bells in C cast by Cavadini and Colbachini are interesting and are played regularly on strings.
Church of Santa Maria Nova, built at the end of the sixteenth century, represents the only religious architecture designed and built by Palladio in the city, apart from the Valmarana chapel and the limited interventions in the cathedral.
Church of Santa Maria dei Servi, located in Piazza Biade, a small square adjacent to Piazza dei Signori, its construction began in the early fifteenth century by the order of the Servi di Maria. The portal of the church was created by the workshop where Andrea Palladio worked at the beginning of his career and would constitute one of his very first works.
Church of Santa Maria in Araceli, built in the seventeenth century in Baroque style on the site of a previous convent, gave its name to the district of Vicenza of the same name and is attributed to the architect Guarino Guarini. It has a central plan.
Church of San Marco in San Girolamo, built in baroque style in the eighteenth century by the Discalced Carmelites on a previous church and convent of the Gesuati, was dedicated to San Girolamo and Santa Teresa d'Avila. The attribution of the project is uncertain, but the influence of Giorgio Massari's style is evident in the interior. After the Napoleonic abolition of the religious orders and their convents, in 1810 it became the church of San Marco, one of the oldest parishes in the city. It contains numerous works by Venetian artists of the early eighteenth century, including some masterpieces. The sacristy retains the original furniture of the time. Home of the bell school which protects and safeguards the sound of the city's bells.
Church of San Giorgio in Gogna, it is one of the oldest churches in the city, certainly before the year 1000. Like all churches of the time, the facade is Romanesque in style. The perimeter walls, made up of agglomerates of different materials (brick, stone, marble recovered from other buildings) are a demonstration of the clearly artisanal origin of the construction, which can be seen especially in the polygonal apse. It was restored by the diocese in 2011.
Abbey of Sant'Agostino, built on previous buildings in the 14th century, is located on the western outskirts of the city, where it gives its name to the parish and hamlet of the same name. The abbey church was rebuilt in Romanesque style during the rule of Cangrande della Scala between 1322 and 1357.[29][30] The church presents a rich decoration. Inside there is a large polyptych from 1404 by Battista da Vicenza; in the vault of the main chapel the symbols of the Evangelists alternating with the Doctors of the Church, including Augustine: at their feet, angels and allegorical figures including Meekness and Hope. In the keystone is Christ in glory among the angels.
Church of San Rocco, a small and precious Renaissance church almost leaning against the Scaliger walls, built in 1485 following a plague in the place where there already stood an oratory or a sacred shrine dedicated to San Rocco, protector of plague victims. The Renaissance architecture, not in use at the time in the sacred buildings of Vicenza, refers to Lorenzo da Bologna (even if the building was completed by others). Around 1530 the church was extended towards the east and a new façade was built. A few years after the church, the adjoining convent was built, in which the regular Canons of San Giorgio in Alga (a congregation founded in Venice at the end of the 14th century), called Celestines from the color of their habit, followed from 1486 to 1668; the Carmelite nuns of Santa Teresa, known as Teresine, then - after the Napoleonic suppressions of the early nineteenth century - the Hospital of the Exposed, where newborns of illegitimate birth, or those suffering from psychophysical handicaps or belonging to families too poor to support them were collected (the wheel , restored, is still visible). The former monastery, equipped with an evocative cloister, is home to various socio-cultural activities.
Oratory of San Nicola da Tolentino, finished in 1678 commissioned by the brotherhood of the same name, is a chapel that houses a cycle of paintings focused on the life of the Saint, among the highest peaks of the measured Baroque of Vicenza.
Oratorio del Gonfalone, was built between 1594 and 1596 by the brotherhood of the same name, a probable continuation of the ancient Fratalea S. Mariae de domo, devoted to the Virgin and linked to the nearby cathedral. The façade is divided by four Corinthian pilasters, surmounted by a triangular tympanum where two angels are placed holding up the coat of arms of the brotherhood, while at the crown there are three statues with that of the Virgin in the centre. The interior has a single nave. Hit by an Anglo-American bombing in the Second World War, the oratory suffered the same fate as the Cathedral, that of being largely destroyed and rebuilt. The main altar and fragments of the valuable stucco decoration remain, while the original paintings have been lost (a cycle of canvases on the glorification of the Virgin created under the direction of Alessandro Maganza and in which his son Giambattista, Andrea Vicentino, Palma the Younger and Porfirio Moretti), which were replaced by other canvases from the cathedral of Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Albanese, Giovanni Battista Maganza the Younger.
Oratorio delle Zitelle, a rare example of a sacred building with an octagonal plan in the city, is located in front of the church of Santa Caterina. Built around 1647, it is attributed to Antonio Pizzocaro and was intended for the Pia Casa Santa Maria delle Vergini (founded in 1604 by the Capuchin preacher Michelangelo from Venice), known as "delle zitelle", which welcomed and educated young people without sources of subsistence. Unlike the bare exterior, the interior space is richly decorated. It is divided into three chapels: that of the main altar, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the lateral ones, in honor of Santa Cecilia and Sant'Antonio, on the right, and Sant'Orsola, on the left; the roof is domed, with large "bent" pilasters, on which the ribs are set, also bent, which rise rapidly to create the ogival structure of the dome and therefore divide it into eight segments" (Cevese). The oratory houses a cycle of seventeenth-eighteenth century paintings dedicated to the Stories of the Holy Virgin, among which there are works by important Venetian painters: by Francesco Maffei The rest during the flight into Egypt, The Assumption, The visitation, The crucifixion; the fresco in the keystone and four paintings are attributed to Giulio Carpioni, including The Annunciation and The Adoration of the Magi; by Costantino Pasqualotto two paintings dating back to 1740; the Birth of Mary is a work of the more modest provincial painter Fortunio Parmigiano. The building, owned by IPAB, is being restored in 2013.

 

Military architecture

The main military architecture of the city dates back to the period of Scaliger domination (end of the fourteenth century) and, although a large part of the fortifications have been incorporated into new structures over the centuries, Viale Mazzini still retains its medieval walls which are the subject of a sophisticated restoration .

In addition to the walls, the greatest evidence of military architecture is found in the doors that served as access to the historic center:

Porta Santa Croce, one of the most important remains of the ancient fortifications still intact, is the last to be built by the Scala family (it was built in 1385). The Scaligera walls of Viale Mazzini start from this gate. The door still serves as an entrance to the historic center (access to Corso Fogazzaro). Given the precarious conditions, in 2012 it was the subject of important conservative restoration works.

Porta Nova was built in 1381 by Antonio della Scala to further defend the fortified complex of Rocchetta (where weapons and ammunition for the city were located). In 1848, fierce battles were fought next to this gate to defend the city from the Austrians. The door was knocked down in 1926, on the occasion of Benito Mussolini's visit. Nearby, a gap has been opened in the ancient walls which is given the name Porta Nova, but which has nothing to do with the original gate.

Porta Castello, the gate closest to the center (when entering you find yourself in Piazza Castello) and the main entrance to the city for those coming from the west, represented the passage through the structures of the Scaliger castle, from which it takes its name. It stands a short distance from the older Porta Feliciana which was closed and replaced by the current one which is part, together with the mighty Tower of Piazza Castello, of a fortified complex still wanted by the Ezzelini.

Porton del Luzo, originally a tower house of the Lucii family dating back to the 11th century, the Porton del Luzzo belongs to the same period as the first medieval circle and is considered one of the oldest gates in Vicenza. Closed in the 13th century, it was reopened in the mid-16th century. Remodeled and restored several times with excavation materials obtained from the nearby Roman theater of Berga, it is characterized by a battlement that has also been redone.

Porta Santa Lucia, built in 1369, leads to the village of the same name. It is characterized by a bas-relief with the Lion of San Marco which was chiselled after the fall of the Republic of Venice and by a plaque commemorating the names of the people from Vicenza who died during the battle against the Austrians in May-June 1848. In 2012 the street that leads the door was the subject of works on the sewerage system in the area following the 2010 flood.

Porta San Bortolo, a gate built in the Venetian era (precisely in 1455), rather than for defensive purposes, was the barrier for the toll. It also witnessed the fighting of 1848 and survived the ferocious bombing of 18 November 1944 which severely hit the San Bortolo district (then the most populous in the city). The gate was renovated by the Alpine group of the neighborhood between 1993-1994 and in the same years the municipality reorganized the road system around the gate (which is located at one of the intersections of the internal ring road, near the historic entrance of the San Bortolo hospital). The door has become a monument inserted inside a roundabout and no longer has the function of allowing passage under it.

 

Other

The squares

Piazza dei Signori is the main square of the city, the beating heart of the city government first as the Roman forum of the city, then, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, with the Palazzo della Ragione (known as the Palladian Basilica) where justice was administered and the Loggia of Capitanio, seat of the representative of the Republic of Venice. In the square - rectangular in shape - there are also the Bissara Tower, the civic tower (with its 82 m one of the tallest buildings in the capital), the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà with the Church of San Vincenzo (dedicated to the co-patron saint of the city ) and the two columns, one with the Lion of San Marco and the other with the statue of the Redeemer.

Piazzetta Palladio, a small square towards the western side of the Basilica, formerly known as Piazzetta della Rua (from the name of the wooden car carried by hand through the streets of the historic center during the Corpus Domini procession). The current name is instead due to the presence of a statue dedicated to Andrea Palladio, a nineteenth-century work by the sculptor Vincenzo Gajassi.

Piazza delle Erbe, located at a lower level than Piazza dei Signori, is so called because it was for a long time home to the fruit and vegetable and flower market. The square (dominated by the southern side of the Basilica) also houses a thirteenth-century tower which in the past was used as a prison and place of torture (Silvio Pellico was also imprisoned there) called, for this reason, Torre del Girone or del Tormento. The tower is joined to the Palladian Basilica by an arch, called the Zavatteri, dating back to 1494 and so called because the shoe and slippers market (zavate in the language of the time) was once held under it.

Piazza Biade, located on the eastern side of the Basilica, is called this because the cereal and seed market has been held there since 1262. At the end of it, on the left, is the Church of Santa Maria in Foro, known as the Church of the Servi because its construction was begun at the beginning of the fifteenth century by the order of the Servi di Maria. The square houses municipal offices and some departments in a building built after the Second World War. After several controversies over the use of the square as a parking lot for municipal cars, the square was pedestrianised.

Piazza delle Poste, actually a street (contrà Garibaldi) according to the civic road map, is known locally as Piazza delle Poste due to the presence of what was the headquarters of the main Italian Post Office; the building is one of the greatest examples of Italian rationalist architecture in the city and has recently been renovated and converted into a residential building. The square hosts a fountain (the Fontana dei Bambini) from 1984, with bronze sculptures by Nereo Quagliato. It is one of the hubs of the city's nightlife given the presence of numerous venues for the "spritz ritual".

Piazza Duomo is home to the bishop's palace with the diocesan museum and the city cathedral. On the left, detached from the Cathedral, is the Romanesque bell tower of the Duomo, while on the southern side of the square is the access to the Roman Cryptoporticus, the main archaeological monument of the city, rediscovered in 1954 at 6 meters from street level, evidence of a domus Roman of the 1st century. In the center of the square in 1880 a statue of Vittorio Emanuele II was erected by Augusto Benvenuti.

Piazza Matteotti, in the past called Piazza dell'Isola (because it was a small island surrounded by the waters of the Bacchiglione river, which sometimes invaded it) and later Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, is dominated by Palazzo Chiericati (home of the civic art gallery) and the entrance at the Teatro Olimpico, both Palladian masterpieces.

Piazzetta Santo Stefano, characterized by the presence of two noble palaces, Palazzo Sesso Zen Fontana from the 14th century and Palazzo Negri de Salvi from the 15th, and above all by the facade of the church of Santo Stefano, one of the ancient seven city chapels, redesigned at the end of the seventeenth century.

Piazza San Lorenzo hosts the nineteenth-century monument to the Vicenza poet Giacomo Zanella and the baroque Palazzo Repeta (formerly the provincial headquarters of the Bank of Italy), built between 1701 and 1711, among the first works of Francesco Muttoni. The Church of San Lorenzo, which stands on the opposite side, is together with that of Santa Corona one of the most representative examples of sacred Gothic in the city; it was built by the Franciscan friars minor in the 13th century. The square (redeveloped in the 2000s with the moving back of the statue and the construction of a ground-level fountain with water features) has marked and continues to mark the days of many young people from Vicenza who cross it to go to the nearby Pigafetta high schools and Lioy. Until a few years ago it was famous for being the "black" square of the city, a meeting point for many young right-wing people on the model of Piazza San Babila in Milan.

Piazza Castello, diametrically opposite Piazza Matteotti, is home to several Palladian palaces such as Palazzo Porto Breganze, Palazzo Thiene Bonin Longare, headquarters of the Vicenza Confindustria, Palazzo Piovini and the medieval tower of Porta Castello. The square also houses a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi created by Ettore Ferrari in 1887.

Piazzale della Vittoria, a large panoramic square located on the top of the Monte Berico hill, a short distance from the city, allows you to enjoy a panoramic view of the city, with the mountains in the background, the scene of the battles of the First World War. Particularly packed during the celebrations at the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Monte Berico, patron saint of the city and during summer evenings, it is the destination for walks along the porticoes of Viale X Giugno, as well as the venue for numerous concerts.

 

Historic bridges

Ponte Pusterla is a structure with three arches originally made of wood, later replaced in 1231 with stone which is accessed from Contrà San Marco or from Contrà Vittorio Veneto. The name pusterla seems to refer to a small passage door. Here there was one of the original entrance gates to the city, which later became of secondary importance after the advancement of the city walls and was demolished in 1820 to facilitate connections with the centre. Restored in 1444 and again in 1640, the bridge was widened in 1928 for traffic needs. The Bacchiglione river flows through it. The bridge, damaged by the flood of 1 November 2010, was the subject of a radical renovation between 2010 and 2011, which also raised its road surface.

Ponte degli Angeli, rises near Piazza Matteotti and owes its current name to the ancient church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (no longer existing) which was created from the protection tower of the important Ponte di San Pietro. Palladio, between 1555 and 1560, had prepared a restoration project. A few centuries later, in 1889, the building was completely demolished because it was considered an obstacle to the flow of the Bacchiglione river and replaced with an iron structure, which connected the two banks until after the Second World War, when the bridge was rebuilt in reinforced concrete with a structure more suitable to withstand the growing vehicular traffic.

Ponte Furo from which you can admire one of the most evocative images of Vicenza: the Retrone river which winds through the buildings and in the background the Palladian Basilica flanked by the city tower is in fact one of the most beautiful views of the city. The bridge stands near the point where the Seriola canal flowed into the Retrone where, once upon a time, there was the Eretenia Barrier, one of the customs entrances through the wall that delimited the city.

Ponte delle Barche, located in the central Barche district and is the oldest of the bridges in Vicenza, with three arches supported by pillars made of large stone blocks. The structure has very low arches, such that in case of heavy rain the Retrone reaches beyond the arches flooding the bridge.

Ponte San Michele was built in the seventeenth century on the model of Venetian bridges. The name derives from the convent and the Romanesque-Gothic church of San Michele, the first rich in art and built in the thirteenth century by the Augustinian friars, partially demolished in the last century to give new spaces to the city, the second destroyed in the Napoleonic era. It can only be crossed by pedestrians.

Ponte San Paolo, which leads from Piazza delle Erbe to the contrà of the same name, was located on the main axis that crossed the city from north to south in Roman times. After a flood of the river, some loading and unloading chutes emerged used by the boats that went up the Retrone and transported the goods up to under the Bridge itself, adjacent to the area where the city market takes place; historically, it seems that these slides date back to medieval times and that they had great importance for Vicenza, where river merchant transport was widely used until the eighteenth century.

Ponte Novo, originally the Bridge of Converts due to its proximity to a monastery where young women eager to approach religious life were welcomed, the Ponte Novo was demolished and rebuilt in the 2000s. It connects the northern part of the city with the Corso Fogazzaro area. Until a few decades ago, when the waters of the river were suitable for swimming, young people from Vicenza used to dive from this bridge for a swim.

 

Central streets

Almost all the streets and roads in the historic city center are identified with the toponym contrà (abbreviation for contrada). The squares and the two main streets are exceptions.

Corso Palladio is the heart of Vicenza, the shopping street, always crowded due to the now well-known Vasche in Corso. The route of the road has remained almost unchanged since Roman times, when it served as the decumanus maximus of the Vicetia of the time, in turn set on the consular Via Postumia. It extends for approximately seven hundred metres, from Piazza Castello to Piazza Matteotti, from West to East, and represents a veritable gallery of churches and prestigious buildings that overlook it, partly designed by Palladio. It is totally pedestrianised, like most of the surrounding streets.

Corso Fogazzaro follows the route of one of the minor cornerstones of the Roman city and cuts through the north-western sector of the historic center starting from the intersection with Corso Palladio. 630 meters long (up to the Santa Croce gate), the course is named after Antonio Fogazzaro, one of the most famous writers of Vicenza, author of novels such as Malombra, Piccolo mondo antico and Piccolo mondo moderni, in which the provincial society between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Contrà Porti, Cardo Massimo of the city in Roman times, the street was one of the axes from which the building renovation of the 15th century began and on which Palladian interventions were also grafted. Along the road there are many palaces of the Da Porto family (from which the street takes its name) such as Palazzo Iseppo Da Porto (which houses, inside, rooms frescoed by Giambattista Tiepolo) and Palazzo Porto Colleoni. Also by Palladio is the majestic Palazzo Barbaran Da Porto, from 1569, home to the Andrea Palladio International Center for Architectural Studies (CISA) which faces the fifteenth-century wing of Palazzo Thiene.

 

Cemeteries

In the municipality of Vicenza, in addition to
Major Cemetery – built starting from 1815 and divided into several sectors – which also hosts the funeral of illustrious citizens

Six other cemeteries are active, once belonging to neighboring towns which have now become hamlets of the city; are those of:
Madeleine
Polegge
Bertesina
Farmhouse
Settecà
Longara
The historic non-Catholic cemetery on Viale Fratelli Bandiera is no longer used, but remains open as a green area.

 

Green areas in the city

In addition to the classic neighborhood parks in the city there are numerous green areas, some historic (Campo Marzo and Giardini Salvi) others recently established (Parco del Retrone, Parco Fornaci). All the parks, flowerbeds and plants in Vicenza are looked after by Valore Città AMCPS. The most important parks in the city are:

Campo Marzo is the largest green area in the city, the oldest to be owned by the municipality and one of the few without limitations on access times (the park has no fences). It stands on the slopes of Monte Berico, close to the train station. Divided into two sectors by Viale Roma, this park presents, in the western part, a series of paths that surround some statues (one to Antonio Pigafetta, one to Antonio Fogazzaro) and the large playground in Via dell'Ippodromo, and on the eastern part the characteristic Viale Dalmazia (completely redeveloped in recent years) where, in September, the carousels are placed for the feast of the Patron Saint.

Giardini Salvi, is a small garden (open since 1909) adjacent to the walls of Piazza Castello, in the center and features rich vegetation, a sinuous path of its avenues, which wind between fountains and statues, running alongside the Seriola canal. The presence of the Longhena loggia and the Valmarana loggia, the second work in Palladian style, are important. For some years, Christmas markets have been held in the Gardens. Subject of a radical redevelopment between 2008 and 2009, the garden also features a path suitable for disabled people, as well as a collector's rose garden.

Querini Park, another large green lung of the capital (120,000 m²), located between the historic center and the San Bortolo hospital, is characterized by vast lawns, an extensive grove and a charming tree-lined avenue (flanked by classical style statues) , which leads to a small monopterous temple set on a small artificial island surrounded by a moat. Having become municipal property in 1971, it is the park par excellence for jogging, also given the presence of a fitness trail. In 2010, a sector of the park was enriched with a series of recreational-scientific tools suitable for understanding refraction, kinetic energy and other physical phenomena.

Retrone Park, it is a park that extends along the Retrone river, in the Railway District, the third largest park (40,000 m²). Rich in young trees (the park was established in 1997), flowering bushes and spaces for sports (volleyball, football and canoeing), it is managed by Legambiente.

Naturalistic oasis of the Casale "Alberto Carta" ponds, established in 1998 in the hamlet of the same name south of the capital, consists of approximately 30 hectares of marshy reservoirs, used (until a few decades ago) for the exploitation of clayey sediments. Once the excavation activity was completed, the area was populated with animals and plants typical of areas rich in water. The Oasis (managed and protected by the WWF) is one of the few natural wetlands in the Vicenza plain.

Villa Guiccioli Park: it is located near the Museum of the Risorgimento and the Resistance and occupies the top of the Ambellicopoli hill with an extension of approximately four hectares. It is rich in plants belonging to both the local flora and exotic species including the Zelcova, listed among the monumental trees of the province of Vicenza.

Parco Fornaci is the latest park established in the city (the inauguration took place in the summer of 2007), it extends over 35,000 m² and is located in the Viale Crispi area, in an area that required reclamation intervention environmental after the demolition of the old Lampertico furnaces. The park is equipped with around a hundred plants, a pond, three fountains with water features, recreational facilities such as a bowling green, a fitness trail and a skateboard track, the second largest in Italy, measuring 25 meters per side.

Peace Park: a large park north of the city, under construction (since 2019) in the area of the former Dal Molin airport.

 

Territory

The municipal territory of Vicenza extends for 80.57 km², between the northern part of the Berici Hills and the eastern part of the Lessini, 50 km east of Verona and 70 west of Venice, 40 north-west of Padua, 60 a south-west of Treviso, 110 south of Belluno and 80 north of Rovigo.

The city has a flat southern part located at an altitude of 26 m a.s.l. (Borgo Casale area), the part of the historic center that develops between 33-40 m asl, between the bends of the main rivers Bacchiglione, Retrone and Astichello and finally a hilly part (belonging to the system of the northern ridges of the Berici Hills) with a maximum altitude of 183 m asl (corresponding to Monte Bella Guardia).

The municipal territory includes not only the urban core, which expanded considerably during the twentieth century, but also the countryside areas on the outskirts and the area of ​​Monte Berico, which dominates the city from above.

 

Seismology

As far as seismicity is concerned, the capital of Berico has been classified with a grade 3 out of 4 seismic risk or low seismic risk (PCM 3274 Ordinance of 20/03/2003).

 

Hydrography

The historic core of the city rises at the confluence of the Bacchiglione river with its tributary Retrone. Other waterways touch Vicenza: the Astichello river (which flows into the Bacchiglione from the north-east), the Tesina river (which laps the city to the east) and the Orolo stream (which descends from the north and also flows in the Bacchiglione).

During the Middle Ages these waterways had a decisive influence on the history, defense and development of the city.

In addition to rivers, Vicenza and the area north of the city is also very rich in groundwater and resurgence water, so much so that, for centuries, the city of Padua and part of its province have been drawing water from the Vicenza area and, through the aqueduct located in the Novoledo di Villaverla area, lead it to the Padua area.

Unfortunately, due to the considerable post-war urbanization, many ditches and drainage channels have been closed or drained and large areas of once agricultural land have been transformed into industrial areas, ending up by channeling the runoff of the waters that reach the plain from the Vicenza mountains. , only on the main rivers.

Precisely because it is located at the meeting point of rivers (Bacchiglione and Retrone in primis) the city of Vicenza is considered an area at hydrogeological risk; in the past it was in fact hit by several floods: particularly significant those of September 1882 and November 4, 1966. Between the first and November 2, 2010 the city was hit by a new flood which submerged 20% of the municipal area causing serious damages and two casualties.

On 11 November 2012 Vicenza risked a second flood, only two years after that of 2010. The level of the Bacchiglione at the Ponte degli Angeli touched 6.05 meters, thus going well beyond the guard level (so much so that , for the first time, the flood alarm sirens installed by the municipality on some bell towers of the city were activated), then the flood wave decreased. The damage was however considerable in some areas of the city, largely flooded (2.3 km² of flooded territory on 80.54 km² of municipal territory) by the flooded water in some points and by the high pressure output from the sewer pipes.

 

Climate

Vicenza has a continental climate with cold and wet winters, while summers are hot and sultry. Positive effects have the hills and mountains which, very often, are able to block disturbances. On average, the duration of the day is twelve hours and sixteen minutes, with a minimum peak in December (eight hours and forty-nine minutes) and maximum in June (fifteen hours and forty minutes).

Average annual rainfall amounts to 1,060 mm, on average distributed over 88 rainy days, with a relative minimum in winter, maximum peak in autumn and secondary maximum in spring for accumulations. The average annual relative humidity records the value of 74.6% with a minimum of 70% in July and August and a maximum of 81% in December; on average there are 59 days of fog per year.