Villa Trissino and Tombola

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Villa Trissino

   Gian Giorgio Trissino was a poet, diplomat and amateur architect, and in the 1530s he had a clever idea. He saw a young stonemason working at his villa in Cricoli, on the edge of Vicenza, and decided to turn him into an architect. He gave the man a classical education, took him to Rome to study the ruins, and gave him a new name, Palladio, after Pallas Athena and the angel in his own epic poem. The stonemason was Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, and he became the most influential architect in the history of the West. The villa at Cricoli, where it all began, is a modest building of the early sixteenth century with a loggia and a tall, plain front.

   Read the complete Villa Trissino write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Villa Trissino is where the day begins. Next is Villa Trissino.

2. 2. Villa Trissino

   A Palladio villa that was never finished can be more interesting than one that was. At Meledo, a hamlet in the municipality of Sarego south of Vicenza, Andrea Palladio drew up grand plans for the Trissino brothers in the mid-sixteenth century: a central block topped by a dome, with long curved colonnades stretching out like arms toward the river. Only a fragment was built, and what you see today is a modest farm building and some remains incorporated into later structures. Yet the design, published in Palladio's Four Books of Architecture, became one of his most influential, and the site is part of the UNESCO listing of the City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.

   Read the complete Villa Trissino write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Villa Trissino comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villa Pisani.

3. 3. Villa Pisani

   Montagnana is one of the best-preserved walled towns in Europe, with its entire ring of medieval brick walls, towers and gates still standing around the old centre, and just outside the eastern gate stands a villa by Andrea Palladio. Villa Pisani at Montagnana, built for Francesco Pisani in the 1550s, is a two-storey palace with a classical façade facing the road, part of the UNESCO listing of the City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. Unlike most of Palladio's country villas, it sits right at the edge of town, more urban palazzo than farmhouse, and its elegant columns make a striking contrast with the rugged walls nearby.

   Read the complete Villa Pisani write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa Pisani. Next is Tombola.

4. 4. Tombola

   In the flat, fertile plain south of Verona, near the town of Cerea, a low rise in the fields called Tombola hides the remains of a Bronze Age settlement. The site is listed among the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it belongs to a group of wetland villages that once stood among the marshes of the Valli Grandi Veronesi, a large area of wetland that was drained and reclaimed over the centuries.

   Read the complete Tombola write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tombola, about halfway. Next is back through Villa Pisani.

5. 5. back through Villa Pisani

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Villa Pisani write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Villa Pisani sits at 111 km, about halfway. Next is back through Villa Trissino.

6. 6. back through Villa Trissino

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Villa Trissino write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Villa Trissino comes up about 131 km into the recorded legs.

7. 7. Villa Trissino

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Villa Trissino write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Villa Trissino closes the day.