Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
purchase the Card Musei e Palazzi which also gains you entrance to the Gallerie
di Palazzo Leoni-Montanari, and to the Palazzo Barbaran if there is an exhibition.
55
(Piazza Matteotti;
%
0444-222101; admission only with cumulative ticket;
Sept-June Tues-Sun 9am-5pm, July-Aug 9am-6pm),
which is arguably Palladio's
finest urban design, and one which he did not see completed (it was begun the
same year that he died, and took 5 years to finish). Its historical significance is
grounded in the fact that this was Europe's first indoor, covered theater, although
the half-moon auditorium is strongly influenced by ancient arena-style design.
The steep, raked auditorium seats as many as 1,000 patrons; the theater was inau-
gurated on March 3, 1585, with a performance of
Oedipus the Tyrant.
The execu-
tion of Palladio's design was so expensive that the city's academicians were forced
to ask the Venetian Republic for financial aid.
Once you're inside the theater itself, go up to the top row (making certain not
to walk on the seats), from where you'll get a proper idea of the grandeur of the
space. The entire stage resembles a classical Italian street scene (supposedly
Thebes), added by Palladio's student, Vincenzo Scamozzi, to force the illusion of
perspective and depth; stone citizens stand in various poses, some gesturing, oth-
ers playing out violent or heroic deeds from their own dramas.
On the other side of Corso Palladio, the
Museo Civici
Start by visiting the
Teatro Olimpico
IN SEARCH OF PALLADIO
5
(Piazza Matteotti;
%
0444-321348; admission only with cumulative ticket; Sept-June Tues-Sun
9am-5pm, July-Aug 9am-6pm)
occupies Palladio's Palazzo Chiericati. Its interior
unfortunately has a government-run ambience, but includes an extensive collec-
tion of artwork by local masters (such as Bartolomeo Montagna, who founded the
local Vicenzan school of painting), as well as more valuable paintings by the likes
of Tintoretto (his St. Augustine healing the cripples is a favorite), Veronese, and
Tiepolo.
Nearby, following signs from Corso Palladio, pay a visit to the
Church of Santa
Corona
(Via Santa Corona, 2; 8:30am-noon and 2:30-6pm),
built by the
Dominicans in the 13th century, and notable primarily for two paintings:
Giovanni Bellini's
The Baptism of Christ,
and
The Adoration of the Magi
by Paolo
Veronese. Attached to the church is the city's museum of natural and archaeolog-
ical history, well worth skipping.
Santa Corona is a good place to start a walking tour of
palazzi;
stroll north
along Contrà Santa Corona until you reach the
Palazzo Leoni-Montanari
(
€
3.50,
or included in the
€
11 Vicenza Card; Tues-Sun 10am-6pm, visitors can reserve
admission for specific times at www.palazzomontanari.net)
on your left. You can
visit the art gallery here for the rather limited coverage of Veneto artwork, most
of which is from the 18th century. Beyond the gallery, turn left and follow the
road southwest until you reach Contrà Porti, lined with an exceptional number
of Gothic palaces and several buildings by Palladio. Particularly noteworthy are
Palladio's Palazzo Iseppo da Porto (which you'll pass on your right) and then the
Palazzo Colleoni Porto, built in the 14th century.
On the corners of the intersection of Contrà Porti and Contrà Riale are the
Palladian-designed
Palazzo Barbarano
(only open to the public during the tem-
porary architectural exhibitions held here) at no. 11, and
Palazzo Thiene,
at
no. 12, which now houses a bank. If you walk north along Contrà Riale, you'll
