Villa La Rotonda

Villa La Rotonda (Villa Almerico Capra) was built between 1567 and about 1605. Paolo Almerico, a former papal official, had it built as a country house near his home town of Vicenza. The Capra brothers acquired it around 1591–92 and completed it; after Palladio's death in 1580, Vincenzo Scamozzi finished the building, with a lower dome than Palladio had planned. The square building has four identical columned porticoes with steps, and at its centre is a circular domed hall that gives the house its name; the Pantheon in Rome is regarded as its model. The main salons are decorated with frescoes on allegorical and religious themes.

The design had influence far beyond Italy: copies include Chiswick House and Mereworth Castle in England, and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia belongs to the same lineage. Since 1994 the villa has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". The interior is open on only certain days of the week and the gardens more often; check the current times before you set out. Allow one to two hours.