Villa Caldogno, Renaissance villa in Caldogno, Italy
Villa Caldogno is a manor house designed following the architectural principles of Andrea Palladio, with a balanced facade and symmetrical layout. The interior contains a central hall flanked by rooms whose walls are covered with frescoes depicting everyday life from the 16th century.
The structure began as a renovation of earlier buildings in the 1540s and was completed in 1570 for Angelo Caldogno in its present form. This period marked the height of Andrea Palladio's influence on how villas were built throughout the Veneto region.
The rooms feature frescoes by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo and Giovanni Battista Zelotti, artists who decorated several buildings in the Palladian style across the region. These painted scenes reflect how people lived and worked in the 16th century, giving visitors a window into daily routines of that era.
The manor is open to visitors and shows how people lived from medieval times through the Renaissance era. Watch your step on the stone stairs and uneven floors, as these are original features of buildings from this historical period.
During World War II, German forces constructed an underground concrete bunker with operating rooms hidden behind the property, which survives and can be visited today. This wartime structure shows how even historic buildings became part of military operations during the conflict.
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