Every great architect has to start somewhere, and Andrea Palladio started here. Villa Godi, built for the Godi brothers in the late 1530s and early 1540s at Lugo di Vicenza, is considered his first villa, and you can already see the ideas that would make him famous: a clear, symmetrical plan, a central hall flanked by rooms in harmonious proportion, and a building set carefully into the landscape, here on a terrace looking out over the plain. It is still a little stern compared with his later villas, but the frescoes inside, by painters such as Giovanni Battista Zelotti, are lively and colourful. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.
The villa sits at the foot of the Asiago plateau, where the Venetian plain meets the first slopes of the Prealps. The hills around Breganze are covered in vineyards, producing Torcolato, a sweet golden dessert wine made from dried Vespaiola grapes, as well as reds and whites. Above, the Asiago plateau was the scene of fierce fighting during the First World War, and its forests and meadows are dotted with trenches, forts and memorials. It is also the home of Asiago cheese, sold fresh or aged in every village.
For riders, the climb from the plain to the plateau is the main event. The road from Thiene or Lugo via the Costo is a series of tight hairpins, with views back over the plain, and other roads climb steeply through the forest to the plateau. Up there, the roads are fast and open, crossing meadows and forests, with little traffic outside weekends. In winter, snow covers the plateau, and the roads can be icy.
Lugo di Vicenza is a small village with a few cafés, and Breganze, five kilometres away, has fuel, shops and restaurants. Thiene, a little further, has a larger choice. Try bigoli, thick spaghetti, with duck sauce, or polenta with local cheese and mushrooms, and a glass of Breganze wine if your ride is over. A slice of Asiago cheese and a crusty roll make a good lunch on the go.