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Brenta Riviera is made up of districts and green spots
along the ancient course of a river linking Padua to Venice. This was
the ideal extension of Venice onto the mainland, almost a continuation
of the lagoon city: between the 16th and the 18th century the Brenta Riviera
experienced a golden age which turned it into a privileged holiday resort
for rich Venetian nobles. They built dozen of villas along its riverbanks,
designed and decorated by masters of Italian art, visited by artists,
popes, kings and men of culture, envied for their beauty, inhabited as
country seats where they celebrated ritual floating processions, sumptuous
dinners and festivities lasting until dawn.
Along the River one can admire more than fifty villas, once summer residences
of the Venetian nobility. Quite interesting are the villages and the ancient
bridges along the river. |
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Departing from Malcontenta,
the first villa you can see is Villa Foscari, designed by Palladio.
The image of the villa's pronaos reflected on the water is still fresh
in our minds as we catch sight of the next villages and their villas.
The best known are: the seventeenth century "foresterie" (guest
houses) of Villa Valmarana overlooking Villa Widmann located on the
opposite river bank in Mira Porte; Villa Angeli in Dolo designed by
Scamozzi; Villa Soranzo in Fiesso with the whole frescoed façade;
and finally the most spectacular Villa in the Brenta Riviera: Villa
Pisani in Stra. Rich as a jewel casket, the villa is of outstanding
interest to visitors, with frescoes by Tiepolo and Guarana, spectacular
stables and the celebrated maze, epitomizing eighteenth century Venetian
society which, in the game of the history, performed vanishing acts,
only to appear once again.
The Brenta has had many famous guests such as Henry IV King of France,
D'Annunzio, Byron, Galileo Galilei, etc.. many others praised its beauties
as Goethe and Goldoni. Also Dante Alighieri mentiones Oriago in the
Divine Comedy. |
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