Villa Caldogno

via Zanella 3, Caldogno, Vicenza
tel. +39 0444 905054 / +39 0444 901529
fax +39 0444 585385 / +39 0444 901561
e-mail:biblioteca@comune.caldogno.vi.it
e-mail:cultura@comune.caldogno.vi.it
web: www.comune.caldogno.vi.it

Open to the public:
Fridays 3.00 – 6.00 pm
Saturdays 9.00 –12.00 am

Groups (min 15 people) by appointment only

reduced price: euro 2

In 1541, Losco Caldogno, a Vicentine merchant and aristocrat, inherited some farm buildings and numerous fields at Caldogno, just a few kilometres north of Vicenza. It is possible to establish that work on the villa began in 1542 and it was ready for use by 1567, while the date 1570 inscribed on the façade probably indicates the year when the decorative work was completed. No documents exist which might prove that Palladio designed the villa, nor is it included in the Quattro Libri. The plan is very simple and the rooms are not perfectly proportioned, however this probably results from a need to absorb pre-existing masonry. Certain analogies with buildings such as Villa Saraceno are decisive in attributing this work to Palladio. A terrace and two corner towers were added to the rear of the building In the seventeenth century. Around 1570, Giovanni Antonio Fasolo and Giovanni Battista Zelotti painted frescoes in the two larger left-hand rooms, transforming the interior spaces into a splendid architectural setting.