Andrea Palladio designed Villa Zeno at Cessalto in the middle of the sixteenth century, and it stands among the flat fields of the lower Piave plain, about five kilometres from the little town of Ceggia and not far from the Livenza river. It is one of the villas of the Veneto that were collectively inscribed on the World Heritage list, and it is quite different from the grand Palladian pieces near Vicenza: an agricultural house, plain and practical, with a broad central block and a pair of long service wings.
Palladio, the stonemason's apprentice who became the most imitated architect in Europe, built country houses for Venetian families who had turned from sea trade to farming as the Republic's fortunes shifted. The Zeno were one of those families, and the villa sat at the centre of a working estate. Palladio then published his designs in a book, I quattro libri dell'architettura, in 1570, which carried his ideas to England and later to the American colonies. Thomas Jefferson was one of his keenest readers, and half the porticoed houses of the English-speaking world owe him something.
The countryside is the opposite of dramatic. The plain between Treviso, Portogruaro and the lagoon is dead flat, crossed by drainage ditches, straight roads and rows of poplar, with maize and vines on both sides. It is not a place for corners, but it is good for a relaxed day, on quiet minor roads with the occasional farm tractor and a very long view. Fog settles here in winter and can last all day, and in summer the air is humid and mosquito-ridden near the water. Spring and early autumn are the best times.
Ceggia, with about five thousand people, has fuel and a few bars, and San Stino di Livenza is a bit larger, so the way is easy. For something better than a roadside coffee, head towards Treviso, a handsome walled city of canals, or towards the Prosecco hills north of Conegliano, where the roads finally begin to climb and twist. Venice itself is about forty minutes away, but you will not want to ride there.