Andrea Palladio (Italian, 1508 – 1580)

Vicenza, Italy

Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in Northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa’s official name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is mostly known as La Rotonda. Along with other works by Palladio, the building is conserved as part of the Unesco World Heritage Site City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.

This house, was to be one of Palladio’s best-known legacies to the architectural world. Villa La Rotonda may have inspired a thousand subsequent buildings, like the White House in Washington D.C., but the villa was itself inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

The name La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with its dome. This and all other rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision according to Palladio’s rules of architecture which he published in I quattro libri dell’architettura. The design reflected the humanist values of Renaissance architecture.  From the porticos, views of the surrounding countryside can be seen; this is purposeful as the Villa was designed to be in harmony with the landscape. This was in contrast to such buildings as Villa Farnese (aka Villa Caprarola) of just 16 years earlier.

Building began in 1567. Neither Palladio nor the owner, Paolo Almerico, were to see the completion of the villa. Palladio died in 1580 and Vincenzo Scamozzi, after Palladio the most famous Renaissance architect of those days, was employed by the new owners to oversee the completion. 

The villa is now owned by Count Nicolò Valmarana. The interior is open to the public Friday through Sunday, and occasionally the Count will give tours.

• Villa La Rotonda can be visited Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for all the details, click here.
• The Villa can be reached early from Vicenza, it’s a 30 minutes walk from the station. For directions, click here.