Villa Valmarana
Ten minutes’ achievement away from Monte Bérico is the Villa Valmarana “ai Nani” , an undistinguished house prefabricated extraordinary by the decorations of Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo (mid-March to April Tues & Fri 2.30-5.30pm, Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun 10am-noon & 2.30-5.30pm; May-Sept Tues-Sat 10am-noon & 3-6pm; Oct-Nov 5 Tues-Sat 10am-noon & 2-5pm; L10,000/¬5.16). Nani , by the way, means “Dwarves”, the significance of which becomes clear when you see the garden wall. To get there, go back down the hill, head along Via M. D’Azeglio for 100m, then turn right into the cobbled Via S. Bastiano, which ends at the villa.
There are two parts to the house: the Palazzina, containing six rooms frescoed with brilliant virtuosity by Giambattista (scenes based on Virgil, Tasso and Ariosto - you’re handed a brief guide to the paintings at the entrance); and the Foresteria, one room of which is frescoed by Giambattista and six by Giandomenico, whose predilections are a little less heroic than his father’s
Category: Vicenza
