Virginia Voyages: Palladian Villas, Italy

A small group of University alumni, faculty members, parents, and friends travelled in Italy's Veneto region with President Casteen. The year 2008 marked the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Palladio, Italy's great Renaissance architect, whose building principles inspired Thomas Jefferson's designs for the University of Virginia and Monticello. We visited Palladio's villas, palazzos, and churches in and around Vicenza and in Venice, including the Villa Rotonda, Palladio's masterpiece, which belongs to the family of Mario di Valmarana, professor emeritus of U.Va.'s School of Architecture.

Highlights of the trip included:

A tour of Il Castello di Thiene lead by Count Clemente de Thiene.
An aperitif and a lunch inside Villa Godi.
A private tour of the Villa la Rotonda lead by Nigolo' di Valmarana who vacationed there (his family home) as a child.
Cruising from Villa Foscari/La Malcontenta to Venice through the Grand Canal at sunset.