The heart of historic Vicenza is Piazza dei Signori, where Palladio lightens the mood of government buildings with his trademark play of light and shadow. Dazzling white Piovene stone (a local limestone) arches frame shady double arcades at the Basilica Palladiana while, across the piazza, white stone and stucco grace the exposed red-brick colonnade of the 1571-designed Loggia del Capitaniato.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
18.7 MILES
Padua's version of the Sistine Chapel, the Cappella degli Scrovegni houses one of Italy's great Renaissance masterpieces – a striking cycle of Giotto…
27.83 MILES
Built of pink-tinged marble in the 1st century AD, Verona's Roman amphitheatre survived a 12th-century earthquake to become the city’s legendary open-air…
Galleria d'Arte Moderna Achille Forti
27.58 MILES
In the shadow of the Torre dei Lamberti, the Romanesque Palazzo della Ragione is home to Verona's jewel-box Gallery of Modern Art. Reached via the Gothic…
27.14 MILES
Across the river from the historic centre, these sculpted gardens are considered a masterpiece of Renaissance landscaping, and are named after the noble…
Sacrario Militare del Monte Grappa
25.49 MILES
No battle defines Italy’s struggle in the Great War better than the 1917–18 battle of Monte Grappa. Despite being severely weakened after the battles of…
18.97 MILES
Padua’s Museum of Medical History is a fascinating mash-up of historical artefacts and high-tech exhibits that detail the city’s outsized contribution to…
0.25 MILES
Behind a walled garden lies a Renaissance marvel: the Teatro Olimpico, which Palladio began in 1580 with inspiration from Roman amphitheatres. Vincenzo…
1.21 MILES
No matter how you look at it, this villa is a showstopper: the namesake dome caps a square base, with identical colonnaded facades on all four sides. This…
Nearby Vicenza attractions
0.02 MILES
This is one of the few Palladio palaces not strictly open to the public, though as it is the seat of the town council, you can in theory take a sneaky…
0.02 MILES
Vicenza's expertise in jewellery dates back to 600 BC when the Vicentini were crafting clothing fasteners, called fibula. This museum celebrates that…
0.03 MILES
Now a venue for world-class exhibitions, the Palladian Basilica is capped with an enormous copper dome reminiscent of the hull of a ship. The building,…
0.1 MILES
To better understand architect Andrea Palladio and his legacy, explore the frescoed halls of this modern museum. Artefacts include historical copies of…
0.13 MILES
Designed by Lorenzo di Bologna, construction of Vicenza's cathedral began in the late 15th century. In the mid-16th century, Andrea Palladio added his own…
0.15 MILES
Six metres below modern Vicenza lies one of the city's lesser-known historical treasures – a 1st-century Roman cryptoportico. Discovered during postwar…
0.16 MILES
Built by the Dominicans in 1261 to house a relic from Christ’s crown of thorns donated to the bishop of Vicenza by Louis IX of France, this Romanesque…
0.21 MILES
Vicenza's civic art museum occupies one of Palladio’s finest buildings, designed in 1550. The ground floor, used for temporary exhibitions, is where you…