Description of the attraction
The historic center of Vicenza, surrounded by medieval walls, which were built during the reign of the Della Scala family, is small in size. Tourists usually get acquainted with it during hiking, during which you can see with your own eyes ancient houses, palaces, monuments, picturesque courtyards, narrow streets with their squares, squares and picturesque shops.
One of the routes through the historic center of Vicenza starts from Piazza Matteotti, formerly known as Piazza del Isola. Once the Bacchiglione river flowed right in front of Palazzo Chiericati - in the past, this place was the city's port, where ships loaded with wood arrived. There is a vegetable garden behind the Palazzo building, which makes it a transitional form between the palace itself and the villa. Palazzo Chiericati is considered one of the masterpieces of the great architect Andrea Palladio. Since 1855, it houses the City Museum and Art Gallery.
A little further, a 17th-century portal attributed to Revese leads to the courtyard and garden of the Olympic Theater, begun by Palladio and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. Today the theater leaves the feeling of a mystical place, and its wooden decorations amaze the imagination.
Walking further along the Corso Palladio street, which was once called the most elegant in Europe, behind a small building that according to legend was the home of Palladio, you can see the Gothic Temple of Santa Corona. Inside are works by Bellini and Veronese and Fogolino's mesmerizing view of Vicenza. The main altar, inlaid with marble and pearls, the wooden choir stalls and the Chapel of Valmarana are also worth a look. To the right of the church is the covered gallery of Santa Corona, which now houses the Museum of Natural History, and at the corner of Contra Apolloni stands the Palazzo Leoni Montanari, a masterpiece of Vicenza's Baroque art. Since 1909, it has been owned by the Catholic Bank and is an exhibition hall for 14 paintings by Pietro Longhi. In the same place, on Corso Palladio, is the Church of San Gaetano Thiene and immediately behind it - Palazzo Schio, known as Ca 'd'Oro - an excellent example of Gothic architecture.
The route then leads to Piazza dei Signori, which has been the center of the city since the time of the Vicenza commune. On the south side of the square there is an amazing snow-white building - the Basilica of Palladian, the symbol of Vicenza. Nearby stands the 82-meter Torre Bissara tower, on which the first mechanical clocks appeared in the 14th century. On the other side of the square, you can see the Loggia del Capitano, the unfinished work of Palladio, which today houses the City Council. Behind the Loggia you can see the 16th century Palazzo del Monte di Pieta with the graceful church of San Vincenzo. The charm of the square is complemented by two elegant columns - Christ the Redeemer and St. Mark.
Behind the columns, in Piazza Biade, is the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi, and on the right, in Piazza delle Erbe, stands the Torre Tormento tower, which was once a prison. At the end of the square, on a narrow street, there is a Gothic building with marble lace - the house of Antonio Pigafetta, a participant in Magellan's circumnavigation of the world.
Also in the historic center of Vicenza, it is worth visiting the Palazzo Trissino Baston, now occupied by the City Hall, Palazzo Zigliieri Dal Verme, Palazzo Bonin Longare, the Porta Castello tower - the oldest surviving from the Middle Ages, and the Palazzo Porto Breganze. Behind Porto Castello is the Salvi Garden. And if you go from the park along Corso San Felice e San Fortunato, you can come to the basilica with the same name, built in the early Christian period.
