Vicenza is a renaissance city on the Bacchiglione river that historically grew with settlements in the centuries BC. The city quickly became Roman and was named Vicetia, referring to the goddess of victory, Victoria. Vicetia was strategically located on the important trade route at the time between Milan and Aquileia.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, several centuries passed with changing alliances in the Lombard League and with the city of Padua, before the city joined the Scala rule in Verona in 1311, which subsequently fortified Vicenza. However, already in 1404 Vicenza became subject to the Republic of Venice.

During the Venetian era, Andrea Palladio left his mark on the city and the area with the construction of several upscale mansions in the prosperous city. The Palladian buildings are still the architectural heritage that defines Vicenza and is part of what makes the city worth seeing today. Palladio’s designs in Vicenza and in the Veneto region were included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1994.

Andrea Palladio’s style was based on the study of classical Roman architecture, and thus his works became a beautiful and style-setting continuation of history into the 16th century Renaissance. You can see several Palladian buildings in central Vicenza, such as the Basilica Palladiana, which was first built in Gothic style in the 15th century as the Palazzo della Ragione. After a partial collapse, Palladio was given the task of reconstructing the building, known today for its large loggia and Palladio’s design.

The Teatro Olimpico is another of Andrea Palladio’s beautiful creations. In 1579, the city’s Olympic Academy acquired a property, and with the academy members’ interest in theater and performing arts, they commissioned Palladio to build a theater. The theater with its splendid classicist interior was built from 1580 and completed after Palladio’s death in the same year.

There are also some villas and other structures of Palladio’s buildings in Vicenza, such as Villa Gazzotti Grimani, Palazzo Porto, Villa Americo Capra and Palazzo Chiericati, which today houses a museum. You can also visit the city’s cathedral, the Duomo di Vicenza, and the city’s 82-meter-high Torre Bissara, which stands next to the Basilica Palladiana in Piazza dei Signori.