Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SIGHTS
The Brenta River had long acted as a commercial waterway between inland farms and
Venice, transporting meat, fruit, vegetables, flour and even fresh water to the city, and ex-
porting its spices, cloth, soap, glass and fish inland. But the river's regular and ferocious
torrents, coupled with a pre-1345 decree forbidding Venetians to own mainland property,
meant the area remained largely undeveloped until the 15th century.
That all changed in 1407, when Padua came under Venetian control and the Brenta's
flow was finally tamed by hydraulic intervention. Almost immediately life on the river
began to change as aristocratic families set up fabulous country estates, enhancing their in-
comes with farming and indulging in wild parties. Famous artists and architects were
brought in to design and decorate their homes, and soon the river was traffic-logged with
nobles who spent the days cruising between villas, engaging in what became known as
vil-
leggiatura
.
VILLA FOSCARI
( 041 520 39 66;
www.lamalcontenta.com
; Via dei Turisti 9, Malcontenta; adult/student €10/8; 9am-noon Tue &
Sat, closed Nov-Apr)
The most romantic Brenta villa, the Palladio-designed 1555-60 Villa Fo-
scari got its nickname 'La Malcontenta' from a grande dame of the Foscari clan who was
reputedly exiled here for cheating on her husband - though these bright, highly sociable
salons hardly constitute a punishment. The villa was abandoned for years, but Giovanni
Zelotti's frescoes have been restored to daydream-inducing splendour from
Fame
in the
study to the Bacchanalian bedroom.
Palladio's glorious facade faces the river, with soaring Ionic columns capped by a clas-
sical tympanum that draw the eye and spirits upward.
HISTORIC BUILDING
VILLA WIDMANN REZZONICO FOSCARI
( 041 560 06 90; Via Nazionale 420, Mira; adult/student €5/4; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun May-Sep, 10am-5pm Sat &
Sun Nov-Feb)
To appreciate both gardening and Venetian-style social engineering, stop just
west of Oriago at Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari. Originally owned by Persian-Venetian
nobility, the 18th-century villa captures the Brenta's last days of rococo decadence, with
Murano sea-monster chandeliers and a frescoed grand ballroom with upper viewing gallery.
Head to the gallery to reach the upstairs ladies' gambling parlour where, according to
local lore, villas were once gambled away in high-stakes games. Ignore the incongruously
modernised bathrooms and puzzling modern crafts displays in the bedrooms and head in-
stead into the garden, where an albino peacock loudly bemoans bygone glories.
HISTORIC BUILDING
