About Vicenza
Vicenza, a charming town with fine art and architecture, is located in the Veneto region of Italy, the capital of its own province (the Provincia di Vicenza). There has been a settlement here right back into the depths of history, and remains of the Roman town can still be seen. Later, after the ‘barbarian’ invasions which repeatedly devastated this part of Italy, Vicenza became a significant metropolis, ruled at different times by various greater powers. For several centuries it was governed by Venice; then Napoleon, then the Austrians. In 1866 it became part of the new Kingdom of Italy.
Vicenza was a prosperous town under Venetian rule, and its pride was demonstrated in fine architecture, much of which still survives. Its ‘unique appearance,’ largely owing to the work of influential sixteenth-century architect Andrea Palladio, has led to the town’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. After Palladio, Vicenza is most famous for its trade in precious metals, and is also known as the ‘City of gold’.
Vicenza is a lovely town to visit; with a beautiful, compact town centre, an urbane, civilised character, and attractive villas and viewpoints a short walk away in the hills.
> Villa excursion
Visiting Vicenza
Vicenza makes a great day-trip destination, but if you want to see all the town’s art and architectural sights at a comfortable pace, a longer stay is a better idea and will let you appreciate fully the local atmosphere, food and drink. The town has a number of Palladio sights, several art museums and churches, and handsome streets and squares to enjoy. It’s welcoming for visitors without being overwhelmed by tourism. I include Vicenza on my suggested Art and Architecture of the Veneto itinerary for independent travellers looking to enjoy the best of this region.
Around Vicenza you can admire many grand buildings by Andrea Palladio and his followers. The Italian word palazzo usually means any large building rather than a palace; but many of Vicenza’s palazzi do merit the grander translation. Some of the town’s buildings are medieval, with several in the Venetian Gothic style, but the majority date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They line the narrow lanes of Vicenza’s town centre; which are called contrà, a local word for ‘street’.
Visiting tips and arrival
Vicenza’s railway station is to the south-west of the town centre, and most of the more significant tourist attractions are clustered closely together inside the old town walls. Walking from the station to the historic centre takes about 10 minutes, starting by heading straight along Viale Roma opposite the station. If you are planning my suggested trip to the villas just outside town, you can catch a bus outside the station.
Turning right at the end of Via Roma takes you to one of Vicenza’s historic town gateways, Porta Castello, but before making that turn, I’d recommend a visit to the Giardino Salvi ahead. This leafy park is ornamented with statues and the Palladian-influenced Loggia Valmarana, dramatically reflected in dark waters.
As soon as you’re inside the Porta Castello you find yourself among the town’s great buildings. One of the most curious is off to your right. Designed by Andrea Palladio, Palazzo Porto Breganze was never finished and stands in an abbreviated form. In front of you is the Corso Andrea Palladio, the centre’s main thoroughfare, lined with smart shops and cafes. Some of Vicenza’s grandest palazzi lie on Contrà Porti, off to the left.
Whether you’re in Vicenza for a few hours or a few days, the town’s great Palladio legacy, the Teatro Olimpico, is a good place to start your sightseeing. Not only is this building a must-see sight, but there’s a tourist office alongside where you can pick up maps, information and where, at the time of writing, you can buy a combined ticket for several of Vicenza’s sights: https://www.vicenzae.org/it/turismo/vicenza-palladio-e-le-ville/scopri-vicenza-la-card-musei-e-la-mappa-del-centro-storico.
Note that, as in most Italian destinations, Vicenza’s main sights are usually closed on Mondays. Some, like churches, may also close for several hours in the middle of each day. Museum opening hours and ticket details can be consulted here: https://www.museicivicivicenza.it/
Highlights of Vicenza
My must-sees in Vicenza
Piazza dei Signori, a few yards south of Corso Andrea Palladio, is the heart of town. It is dominated by two of Vicenza’s most striking landmarks, the Basilica Palladiana (visitable, more below), the town’s medieval law courts, with an imposing later façade by Palladio, and the adjacent Torre di Piazza, a tall and skinny tower. When markets are held here on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, the piazza is packed and lively.
The town’s most famous sight is the Teatro Olimpico, Palladio’s last work, which was finished by his son and then by Vincenzo Scamozzi. Although the far side of town from the railway station – not ideal for day trippers – this is a good first port of call, as at the time of writing you can pick up a combined ticket here. Conveniently, the theatre is open throughout the day with no lunchtime closure (though it is closed on Mondays. At intervals throughout the day there are short sound and light shows. https://www.teatrolimpicovicenza.it/
The theatre was modelled on ancient Roman theatres, with a curved amphitheatre, graded stepped seating and lavish ornamentation. It incorporates a fabulous permanent stage set (designed for Greek tragedy) by Scamozzi with trompe l’oeil street scenes and classical motifs.
Over the road from the Teatro Olimpico is Palazzo Chiericati, also designed by Andrea Palladio, which today houses the town’s museum (Museo Civico) and art gallery (closed Mondays). The museum and gallery collections are extensive, and fascinating for art-lovers, so I’d recommend allowing a generous amount of time.
Exhibits displayed through the historic palace include ceramics, ceiling frescoes, altarpieces and paintings telling historic stories of Vicenza. Artists such as Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo, Hans Memling, Bartolomeo Montagna and Cima da Conegliano are among the highlights, though these are far too many and varied to list, from the lavish grotesque-inspired Room of Hercules to vivid comic-book style illustrations of the life of St Blaise by the nameless Maestro della Libreria Sagramoso. One of my favourite artworks here is the remarkably modern portrait of female poet and intellectual Maddalena Campiglia by Alessandro Maganza (c. 1590).
Art lovers should also pay a visit to the Gothic Church of Santa Corona. Its treasures include a gorgeous Baptism of Christ by Giovanni Bellini and a lavish Adoration of the Magi by Paolo Veronese. The altar and balustrade in the sanctuary are mesmerising works of pietra dura, inlaid with religious scenes, fruit, birds, animals, angels and remarkable allegorical figures representing the cardinal virtues including bare-breasted Prudence with a snake, arrow and mirror, and Fortitude (a shield and column). And don’t miss the curious elephant sculpture on a wall by the garden entrance, part of a memorial.
More to see in Vicenza
Vicenza’s Palladio legacy has inspired an architecture study centre and Palladio Museum, run by the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, which houses architectural exhibitions in a palazzo designed by Palladio, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto.
The Basilica Palladiana in Piazza dei Signori, part of Vicenza’s theatrical main square, is used to host temporary exhibitions, and its attractive terraces can also be visited (Vicenza Civic Museums: Basilica Palladiana). In the loggia beneath is a small jewellery museum, the Museo del Gioiello, which is worth visiting if you have time and a combined museum ticket including this attraction.
Vicenza’s cathedral, the Duomo, was built between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but was severely damaged during WW2 bombing by the US Fifteenth Air Force, before being rebuilt (see photos of the aftermath at Istituto Luce). The façade survived, along with a marvellous richly-coloured altarpiece of the Madonna and Child with Saints Lucy and Mary Magdalene by local Renaissance artist Bartolomeo Montagna (c.1450–1523), whose work you may already have seen in Palazzo Chiericati and Santa Corona.
Palazzo Thiene is a grand fifteenth and sixteenth-century palazzo included in Vicenza’s UNESCO listing. The palace is worth visiting for its own architecture and design as much as for the art collection now housed inside. The palace is enormously lavish and artistic, with fabulous stucco and fresco ceilings and fireplaces sculpted as monsters’ mouths. The art museum here is large, with many areas and galleries, including an interesting gallery of historic prints. Among the curious palace features is a dome viewable from above that forms the ceiling of the decorated room below.
Vicenza is truly rich in palaces and art museums. Palazzo Leoni Montanari is a baroque palazzo which houses temporary exhibitions and the art collections of a bank, the Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, forming one of their Gallerie d’Italia museums (https://gallerieditalia.com/). Like Palazzo Thiene, this building is worth visiting for the decorative palace features as well as the art collections inside: from Russian icons to Venetian paintings by Canaletto and Pietro Longhi (including another elephant).
A particularly interesting painting at Palazzo Leoni Montanari is by Francesco Zuccarelli and depicts ‘the legend of Palladio’ with a view of Vicenza. The architect is shown with Inigo Jones and perhaps Earl of Arundel. Other, and very different, highlights include pottery from Magna Grecia, including a passionate ‘nuptial scene’ on a couch.
In and around Vicenza
With enough time in Vicenza, travellers can pay a visit to several fascinating and picturesque sights outside the centre of town.
A Romanesque wild card
The ancient basilica of Santi Felice e Fortunato (St Felix and St Fortunatus) is an atmospheric spot reached through rather unappealing streets, a ten-minute walk from Porta Castello. The church site has had a long and eventful history, with traces remaining from different eras and incarnations. In the tranquil interior of the Romanesque building are earlier palaeochristian mosaics to admire among other relics from many ages. The first church here was built in around the fourth or fifth century on the site of a pagan Roman cemetery, and there are sarcophagi around the site.
Outside the church, don’t miss the curious little carved figures supporting the columns of the door portal and the faded frescoes above. An unusual column known as the Colonna di San Gallo stands nearby, moved here from the town gateway where it once bore a standard. The column is decorated with carvings around a stone lantern shape depicting the Madonna and saints on horseback. There is also a lapidarium (collection of historic sculpture and stonework) in a separate building with large glass windows for viewing.
While it’s something of a walk off the beaten track, being outside the historic centre, the basilica is an atmospheric testimony to the area’s past, and is a rewarding destination for history-lovers.
A church and a view
For views over the area, visitors can walk uphill (or take a bus) to the Santuario di Monte Berico, a church built on the site of two apparitions of the Madonna. A long arcaded walkway climbs up the hill, which is useful on a sunny or a rainy day. There are big views over Vicenza and the surrounding area from here, and I included it in my half-day bus-and-walk villa excursion.
Vicenza transport
The most convenient airports for Vicenza are Treviso Airport, Venice Marco Polo and Verona. If you’re arriving from Marco Polo Airport, take a connecting bus to Mestre (the Venice mainland station) where you can pick up the train to Vicenza.
Vicenza can be reached in 45 minutes from Venice by taking one of the faster and most expensive trains; a cheaper option will take just over an hour. Padua is 20 minutes away by rail. Coming from Treviso, travellers will sometimes have to change at Mestre, although there are also direct ‘stopping’ trains; either way, the journey will take you just over an hour. The rail journey from Verona takes between 25 and 45 minutes, again depending on the category of train. Vicenza and its surrounding area are served by local buses, although you’ll be able to sightsee on foot in the city centre.
Things to do around Vicenza
Vicenza is connected by rail to Venice, Padua and Verona for easy daytrips. It’s a good central base for exploring the Veneto region, from Lake Garda in the west to Treviso and Venice in the east.
The elegant villas around Vicenza would make the area worth visiting even without the town. Several were designed by Andrea Palladio, but there are plenty of others to be visited. Among the most well-known is the Villa Valmarana ai Nani (‘of the dwarves’), so-called because of its decorative statues. Nearby is Palladio’s famous villa, La Rotonda. Both of these are in the outskirts of Vicenza and can be reached by bus number 8. They can be combined in a walking excursion with Monte Berico – read directions in my Vicenza villas article.
Further from town you’ll find a good assortment of villas which are open to the public. Pick up maps and check the latest opening times online or at the tourist information office before you set off, as many have limited visiting hours. Hiring a car will make exploring easier, but with careful planning – and allowing more time – you can manage some interesting day trips by bus.
Where to stay in Vicenza
Vicenza has such an attractive historic centre that staying in these streets is definitely the most appealing option for a laidback city break. There are very few hotels and B&Bs in the historic centre, though, so I’d recommend booking ahead – or considering an independent apartment (links below). Close to the Teatro Olimpico and Palazzo Chiericati, the modern Glam Boutique Hotel is a popular and convenient option. The Relais Santa Corona is about the most central option, on the same street as the church of Santa Corona, and B&B Palazzo Regaù is across the river Bacchiglione from the Teatro Olimpico and is in a handsome historic building.
Travellers exploring the area by car may prefer a villa or rural stay outside town to enjoy the landscape. Country Home B&B Il Melo offers greener surroundings and home-made breakfasts a short drive from town. For a smart country-house hotel stay, Villa Michelangelo Vicenza (Starhotels Collezione) might be a good choice for an out-of-town sanctuary after sightseeing in the warmer months, with gardens, a swimming pool and elegant surroundings, just a 15-minute drive south of Vicenza.
> Book a hotel, B&B or apartment in Vicenza. Accommodation links on this site are affiliate links and by using them you’ll be supporting my work on the Italy Heaven website and helping to keep it online. Thank you.
On this site
Vicenza villas – an afternoon excursion
Veneto art & architecture itinerary
Useful external links
Vicenza hotels & B&Bs (affiliate link)
Italy car hire (affiliate link)
