Page 14 - Cork & Tee Sample Program Flipbook, 2018
P. 14

•  Villa Valmarana ai nani:  The villa gets its nickname “ai nani” (dwarfs) from the
                                                th
                       sculptured dwarfs with 18  century clothing, lined
                       up on the perimeter wall. Legend has it that they
                       were the guardians of an unhappy young girl.  The
                                                            th
                                                                   th
                       building complex was erected in the 17  to 18
                       centuries.  It consists of three buildings standing
                       on an oblong piece of land and includes a large,
                       colonnaded atrium with the stables; the guest
                       quarters on a single level, with a hall surrounded
                       by a few living rooms; and the villa itself.  The
                       villa is mostly famous for the frescoes painted by
                       the Tiepolos: father Giambattista (1696-1770) frescoed the villa with mythological and
                       epic subjects, while his son Giandomenico (1727-1804) frescoed most of the guest rooms
                       with different subjects, from carnival scenes to scenes with eastern atmosphere.  Inside
                       the villa, you can admire a portrait of Andrea Palladio.

               Your driver and guide will leave you off at the Vicenza railway station for the return train 45 min
               to Venice.

               Proposed Accommodations:  The Gritti Palace


               Day 10 - Sunday, May 7:  History of Venice Through
               Architecture, A Private Tour.  Today, meet Michele
               Benzoni, a Venetian architect whose family has lived in the
               city for five generations, for a half-day, private,
               architectural tour of Venice, which will take the form of a
               historical overview of the city through its rich architecture,
               beginning with the Renaissance and concluding with
               Neoclassicism.  Due to trade with the East, the architecture
               of Venice is more exotic than that of other parts of Italy.
               Your handpicked guide, Michele, is a very well-informed
               architect and architectural historian.  With him, you will
               survey key works, which could include key elements of the
               Venetian skyline such as the Church of San Giorgio
               Maggiore (on the island of the same name), designed by
               Palladio with the harmonic proportions of the Renaissance;
               the huge Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, the most
               ambitious and innovative jewel of the Venetian Baroque,
               and the eighteenth-century Santa Maria dei Gesuati, by
               Giorgio Massari.  Other options include the fifteenth-century Church of San Zaccaria, one of the
               most photographed ecclesiastical buildings in Venice and one of the most important examples of
               architecture from the Venetian Renaissance period.  We can also consider including a visit to the


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