The tour will start from Porta Castello at the foot of the ancient Scaligeri fortress, an ideal point to introduce the most significant events in the city’s history. During the Middle Ages Vicenza experienced many lordships and was enriched with an incredible heritage of art and architecture. Walking along the main street, Corso Andrea Palladio, one is amazed by the uninterrupted sequence of palaces built in different styles, each characterized by often unknown but curious and intriguing events. The itinerary will reveal that well before Palladio’s renovatio, the face of Vicenza was designed on the examples of the monumental Venetian palaces, adopted as a model by the wealthy local families who rivaled each other to own the most elegant building. Religious communities also built beautiful churches in the city’s neighborhoods, places of worship but also of countless works of art, such as paintings, sculptures and portals. Not to be missed is the temple of Santa Corona, where a revered relic of Jesus and Giovanni Bellini ‘s famous painting of the Baptism of Christ have been kept for eight centuries. Contrà Porti will be a must-see stop to admire the architecture of the great master: known precisely by locals as Palladio street, the ancient Roman cardo aligns among others the Palazzo Barbaran Da Porto, home of the Palladio Museum. A few more steps and we will reach Piazza dei Signori, surrounded by ancient cafes and historic stores, but above all dominated by the symbol of Vicenza: the Palladian Basilica.

Upon request, the “Vicenza beautiful city” itinerary offers additional stops to choose from:

• The Olympic Theater, the last project of Andrea Palladio
• Church of Santa Corona
• Palladio Museum
• Hall and Terrace of the Palladian Basilica
• Villa La Rotonda