Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Doge Alvise Pisani provided a Versailles-like reminder of who was in charge. The 1774
Villa Pisani Nazionale is surrounded by huge gardens, a labyrinthine hedge-maze and
pools to reflect the doge's glory. Occasionally there are also some outstanding temporary
exhibitions in upstairs salons, from Old Masters to contemporary artists.
And if the walls of these 114 rooms could talk, they'd name-drop shamelessly. Here
you'll find the gaming rooms where Venice's powerful Pisani family racked up debts that
forced them to sell the family mansion to Napoleon; the grand bathroom with a tiny
wooden throne used by Napoleon during his 1807 reign as king of Italy; a sagging bed
where Vittorio Emanuele II apparently tossed and turned as the head of newly independ-
ent Italy; and, in historical irony, the grand reception hall where Mussolini and Hitler met
for the first time in 1934 under Tiepolo's ceiling depicting the Geniuses of Peace.
VILLA FOSCARINI ROSSI
( 049 980 10 91;
www.villafoscarini.it
;
Via Doge Pisani 1/2, Stra; adult/reduced €5/2.50; 9am-1pm & 2-6pm
Mon-Fri, 2.30-6pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct, 9am-1pm Mon-Fri Nov-Mar)
Well-heeled Venetians wouldn't have
dreamt of decamping to the Brenta without their favourite cobblers, sparking a tradition of
high-end shoemaking. Today, 950 companies produce 22 million pairs of shoes annually.
The lasting contribution of Brenta cobblers is commemorated with a
Shoemakers' Museum
at
Villa Foscarini, a multiroom dream that includes 18th-century slippers, kicks created for
Marlene Dietrich, and heels handcrafted for Yves Saint Laurent.
HISTORIC BUILDING
