Also known as “La Badoera”, Villa Badoer is a trove of art and history which have earned it UNESCO World Heritage status.
Constructed in the second half of the 16th century on the orders of Venetian nobleman Francesco Badoer, the Villa is the work of Andrea Palladio, one of the great Italian architects of the era who oversaw the entire project.
The rooms of the main floor are filled with exceptional works of art, decorated with frescoes by Giallo Fiorentino which depict pastoral, mythological, allegorical and grotesque scenes. The façade, inspired by classical temples, is flanked by two splendid semicircular “barchessas”, a typical Veneto open-sided farm building.
A simple but altogether elegant and majestic design, Villa Badoer is open at weekends and by appointment from Monday to Friday. It is a wonderful place to soak up the pomp and splendour of the era of noble Venetian families, enjoying the tranquillity of the countryside and also exploring the Giacomo Matteotti Museum House, a short walk away, as well as the cities of Ferrara, Padua, Verona and the Po Delta Regional Park.
That is not all: the barchessas of the villa, which curl around the perfectly manicured lawns, house the Fratta Polesine National Archaeological Museum where the exhibits include finds from the Bronze Age villages which once lined the River Po.
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