Page 13 - Cork & Tee Sample Program Flipbook, 2018

del Territorio, was begun just six months before Palladio's death in 1580 and completed five
years later by his son, Silla Palladio, and the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi. Today, it's the oldest
surviving indoor theatre in Europe and is one of only three Renaissance theaters still in existence.
Although the theater is indoors, it is made to look like an outdoor Roman theater, with the tiers
of seats laid out in a hemicycle. The stage is one of the most beautiful still in existence, with its
columns, super-imposed niches and amazing perspectives created by the trompe-l’œil scenery.
The trompe-l’œil was designed by Palladio’s pupil, Vincenzo Scamozzi, for the very first
performance held in the theater, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King in 1585, and has remained in situ
ever since, making it the oldest surviving stage in the world. It gives the illusion of long streets
receding to a distant horizon, creating a perspective vista of the seven roads to the Greek city of
Thebes. Magnificent!

Next, your driver will lead you just across the river to a hill overlooking the city, where you will
visit two villas such as the following (this list might change based on opening times and your
guide’s discretion, but note that Villa La Rotonda will be included):

• Villa La Rotonda, a Renaissance Villa by Paladio: La Rotonda was commissioned by
Paolo Almerico, a retired prelate who returned to Vicenza after a career in the Vatican
Court. Almerico sold his house
in the city to retire to the
countryside. For this reason,
La Rotonda was not technically
designed as a villa as much as
an urban residence placed in the
countryside. Almerico never
thought of this space as an
agricultural production facility,
and Palladio himself classified
the building as a palazzo. The
religious connotations of La
Rotonda are palpable in the vibrant interior, which contrasts with the sober exterior.
Inside, La Rotonda is a colorful and vivid space that looks more like a church than a
household. In fact, many of the paintings make explicit connections to the religious life
of Almerico, celebrating religious values and Christian virtues, such as temperance and
chastity.

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