Palladial Vicenza

A lot of people in the architectural world rave about Palladio, the Italian Renaissance architect that lived in the Venetian Republic (now the Veneto) in the 16th century.

He is universally acknowledged as the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture. 

This sounds a bit bookish but Palladio really is incredibly important when it comes to the way buildings were - and still are - designed, even centuries later. Google 'palladial' and you see what I mean.

I followed a couple of Architecture in the Western World classes and was smitten by his most famous building: the Villa Capra or Villa Rotonda 'that may have inspired a thousand subsequent buildings': a completely symmetrical building, a square plan with four facades, each of which has a projecting portico. It's the severe symmetry Palladio is famous for.

Here we pick up our travels again.
We left Verona and set our for Venice, but needed a stopover for lunch and a couple of hours to fill before we could check in at our Venetian hotel. Now the Villa Rotonda is conveniently situated right between Verona and Venice, so we grabbed the opportunity to visit the site.

While at the site of the Villa Rotonda we also found out that Vicenza is Palladio-city so we set out to the city centre to see more Palladial buildings and grab a lunch.

We were in for a real treat: Palladio's Teatro Olimpico.
I've seen many, many theatres, inside and out. But nothing like this theatre. I hope I can convey our surprise with some pictures. If you're ever in the area...