Villa Caldogno (also known as Caldogno Nordera) is a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

region of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, which is attributed to Italian Renaissance architect

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...

. It was built for the aristocratic Caldogno family on their estate in the village of

Caldogno Caldogno is a town and ''comune'' near Vicenza in Italy. It has a population of 11,337 inhabitants. The Villa Caldogno Nordera in its territory is attributed to architect Andrea Palladio. It is the birthplace of the football player Roberto Baggi ...

near

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

. It is also known as the "Villa Nordera" after Dr. Ettore Nordera who owned the property through a large part of the 20th century.

History

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

inscription on the facade (''Angelus Calidonius Luschi Filius MDLXX'') dates the completion of the building to 1570 when it belonged to Angelo Caldogno. However, Angelo's father, Losco Caldogno, appears to have started to build in the 1540s, probably incorporating walls from a pre-existing building. 1570 is possibly the date of the completion of the villa's decorative scheme. The villa is not included in ''

I quattro libri dell'architettura ''I quattro libri dell'architettura'' (''The Four Books of Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture by the architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), written in Italian. It was first published in four volumes in 1570 in Venice, illustrated wi ...

'', Palladio's treatise of 1570, in which the architect discussed a number of his creations. However, it is similar to certain villas, such as the

Villa Saraceno Villa Saraceno is a Palladian Villa in Agugliaro, Province of Vicenza, northern Italy. It was commissioned by the patrician Saraceno family. History Villa Saraceno has been dated to the 1540s, which makes it one of Andrea Palladio's earlier w ...

, that Palladio is known to have created in the 1540s and 1550s.

In 1932 the villa and the surrounding lands were purchased by Dr. Ettore Nordera, the director of the neurological medicine department of the hospital San Felice in Vicenza. During this time the buildings became part of an institute known as the “Istituto Medico Pedagogico Nordera”. The institute guested 150 children who lived under the guidance of the “Dorotee” nuns. Here they received psychological and medical assistance. It was during this period in which some constructions were added behind the main villa between 1937-39 to accommodate more space for the clinic. Between 1941 and 1944 the villa was confiscated by the German military who used it as a military hospital. During this period the German military built a bomb shelter beside the main villa which is now the Villas ice room. After the war the Nordera Institute was reopened. The Nordera Institute at the Villa Caldogno-Nordera would eventually close and in 1978 part of the property was given to the communal administration. In 1986, the rest of the property including the Palladian villa was sold to the communal administration.

Decorative scheme

The villa has frescoes by

Giovanni Antonio Fasolo Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530–1572) was a late Renaissance Italian painter of the Venetian school, active in Vicenza and surroundings. A native of Mandello del Lario, he appears to have trained in the Venice studio of Paolo Veronese. By 1557, ...

, who decorated Palladio's

Teatro Olimpico The Teatro Olimpico ("Olympic Theatre") is a theatre in Vicenza, northern Italy, constructed in 1580–1585. The theatre was the final design by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and was not completed until after his death. The ...

, and

Giovanni Battista Zelotti Giovanni Battista Zelotti (; 1526 – 28 August 1578) was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, active in Venice and her mainland territories. He appears to have been born in Verona, then part of the Venetian mainland, and trained wit ...

, who decorated a number of villas designed by Palladio. The frescoes at Villa Caldogno Nordera have been compared to Zelotti's work at

Villa Foscari Villa Foscari is a patrician villa in Mira, near Venice, northern Italy, designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It is also known as ''La Malcontenta'' ("The Discontented"), a nickname which—according to a legend—it ...

Conservation status

In 1996,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

included the Villa Caldogno in the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

" City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". The villa is in municipal ownership and is open to the public.

External links

''Centro Internazionali di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio''
sets the architecture of the Villa in context.

tells a brief history of the Villa and its ownership.

video footage of the Villa, during a piano recital by renown pianist

Ivo Pogorelich Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...

in the Villa. {{Authority control

Province of Vicenza Palladian villas of Veneto Andrea Palladio buildings

History

Decorative scheme

Conservation status

See also

External links