Loggia del Capitaniato, also known as Palazzo del Capitaniato or Loggia Bernarda, is a palace in Vicenza, located in the central Piazza dei Signori, in front of Basilica Palladiana. The palace, designed in 1565 by the architect Andrea Palladio, is currently the seat of the city council. In 1994, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. SHORT HISTORY In 1565, the Municipality of Vicenza asked Andrea Palladio to build a palace for the Captain, the military head in charge of the city on behalf of the Republic of Venice. The palace was to replace a pre-existing medieval building, already used as the residence of the Captain. Because the construction of the Palladian Basilica was still in progress, Palladio found himself engaged on two fronts located in the same square. For Palazzo del Capitaniato, he was able to exploit the architectural and stylistic knowledge acquired in the last 20 years of work in Vicenza. Like many other buildings of the Venetian architect, the palace remained partially unfinished. The works were stopped in 1572, with only three bays built, instead of the five or seven originally planned. Just like Read more [...]
Tag: loggia in Vicenza
Loggia Valmarana
Loggia Valmarana is a Palladian-style loggia in Vicenza, located on the northeastern corner of the Salvi Gardens (Giardini Salvi), opposite the main entrance from Viale Roma. Since 1994, together with the other Palladian buildings in Vicenza, Loggia Valmarana is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. SHORT HISTORY The land adjacent to the walls of Piazza Castello was acquired in the 16th century by the Valmarana family, and Giacomo Valmarana himself designed the arrangement of the garden, around the middle of the 16th century. The gardens were inaugurated in 1592 by Leonardo Valmarana, but soon were closed and reopened to the public only in 1909. Inside the gardens, there are two Palladian-style loggias: one from the 17th century, with three arches, known as Loggia Longhena, on the western side of the park, and the second, built at the end of the 16th century, known as Loggia Valmarana, structured as a hexastyle temple. Loggia Valmarana was probably built in 1591 by a pupil of Andrea Palladio, and not by Palladio itself, as it was once thought. ARCHITECTURE Loggia Valmarana rises above the waters of the Seriola Canal, at the Read more [...]