Description of the attraction
The history of Villa Guiccioli begins in 1788, when the Verona Countess Bombarda sold all her property to Antonio Marchiori from Vicenza. He owned "houses and arable land, meadows and forests on Monte Berico" and spent considerable sums on improving his estates. In 1794, Marino Ambellikopoli, a Venetian of Greek origin, after whom the hill would later be named, bought the houses and other possessions of Marchiori. And around 1799, construction began on a villa designed by the architect Gianantonio Selva. Ambellikopoli died in 1803, and over the next five decades, his property was owned by his heirs. Only in 1853, the villa was acquired by the Marquis Ignazio Guiccioli, after whom it was named. By that time, the villa was quite famous, because in 1848, it was on the hill of Ambellikopoli that a fierce battle broke out between Austrian and Italian troops.
The Marquis Guiccioli has slightly changed the appearance of the villa. His successors owned the building until 1935, when it, along with the surrounding land, was bought by the municipality of Vicenza to create the Museum of the Risorgimento and the Resistance Movement there. In the same years, restoration work was carried out.
The land belonging to Villa Guiccioli is spread over four hectares on the top of the Ambellikopoli hill at an altitude of 151 meters above sea level. The steepest part of it, the northeastern part, is covered with forest, and most of the hill is relatively flat. Today, in the garden surrounding the villa, you can find about 40 species of local and exotic plants. Shrubs are represented by laurel and yew, and evergreen trees make up about 63% of the total (mainly cedars and cypresses). To the east, the villa's garden is a continuation of the surrounding forests: huge stone oaks and cypresses mingle with wild bushes and trees. Throughout the territory there are hiking trails winding among flowering ash trees, elms, hornbeams and wonderful rock oaks.
