Beautiful provincial cities may be the true treasure of Italy, but the country’s beautiful landscapes are at least as attractive. The Veneto – rolling hills and scenic rivers wedged in between the Alps and the Adriatic coast – is near the top in the list of Italy’s most picturesque regions, and it would be a shame to finish a visit to one of the Veneto’s towns without having had at least a small taste of its beauty.
Fortunately, a walk around Vicenza can combine an introduction into the charms of the Veneto with a look at the region’s greatest artistic treasure, the Palladian country villas which have put the hinterlands of Venice on the global travel map. Even if such a look is often just a peek through closed gates.
Get a Taste of the Veneto on the Outskirts of Vicenza with a visit the Villa Valmarana “Ai Nani”
As with last week’s introduction into the works of the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, you should be aware that this walk is nothing more than a teaser. On the plus side, however, it will take only a morning or an afternoon rather than a full day out of your travel schedule, allowing you to fit it perfectly into a tight weekend programme.
The walk, to get a taste of the Veneto, starts about a half mile east of Vincenza’s train station underneath the 16th century Arco delle Scalette …
… which has been named after the stairway behind it (the scalette) that leads up to the Sanctuary of Monte Berico. (The purpose of the arc itself is far more mysterious, and nobody seems to be entirely sure what exactly the connection might have been between this rather spectacular and grand structure and the monastery on top of the hill.)
To the left of the Monte Berico stairway, a short suburban “feeder route” begins that eventually branches off into several hiking trails.
One of these branches leads up the high road on this junction. This is the route that we will follow.
Soon, you will start to spot the first country villas that appear to fit the Palladian label, as much as that can be discerned from a distance.
Most of these properties are still in private hands, whether they are inhabited by their owners or if they are operated as hotels or guest houses. Either way, they are not open for the casual visitor.
For such an opportunity, we have to wait a little longer until we reach the Villa Valmarana ai Nani.
Villa Valmarana owes it sobriquet – the “Villa of the Dwarves” – to the legend of Princess Layana, born a dwarf into one of the region’s most noble families.
Out of love for his child, the princess’s father decided to protect Layana from the otherwise inevitable cruelty of a life among able-bodied peers by setting her up in an luxurious country villa.
And to make sure that Layana would stay ignorant of her deformity, only dwarves were hired as domestic servants and security staff. None of the people in the neighbouring towns and villages knew any of this or who it was who lived in the complex, but the isolated villa aroused their curiosity, and soon the rumour spread that the house was inhabited by a beautiful princess.
A prince who had heard these stories decided to see for himself, climbed the walls and entered the villa. When Layana spotted the intruder, it began to dawn on her what charade had been played on her. She lost the will to live and killed herself by jumping off the tower, following which all of her faithful retainers turned instantly into stone.
And if you don’t believe this story, just look at the walls that surround the Villa dei Nani: the petrified dwarves are still standing guard, watching and protecting the star-crossed princess.
Following your visit of the Villa Valmarana, continue down the trail past the outbuildings of the property …
… and gates that appear to protect more ancient mysteries …
… until you reach the most famous of the Veneto’s country villas, probably the most famous country house anywhere in the world. This is the perfectly symmetrical Villa Rotonda, the ideal for classical architecture ever since it was designed by Andrea Palladio in the 1560s.
Unfortunately, the Villa Rotonda is only open for visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (1000 to 1200 and 1500 to 1800 hrs.), so if you arrive on an ordinary weekday, all you can do is peek through the iron gates.
For your return journey to Vicenza, you can walk from here to the near-by main road (the Viale Riviera Berica) and catch a bus to town (lines 8 or 13), but alternatively, you can also hike back the same way you came.
Which is what we did, on a gloriously sunny autumn day, without getting bored. There was too much to see and to enjoy for us to notice that we had walked down the same trail a little more than an hour ago. Go out and try it for yourself!
