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Country Villas

August 12, 2003

Dear Friends and Families,

When we scratched Venice from our itinerary, we needed to put something nearby in its place. Marianne had settled on the city of Treviso because it was on our way home and it seemed to offer a base for a glimpse of the Veneto region. It was a good decision.

We settled into a nice four-star business hotel. We could tell we were not on a tourist route because the 100-room hotel had less than a handful of guests. Apparently, that would be the case in any non-tourist Italian city in August. All business shuts down and along with it business travel, so hotels in that trade are almost empty. In any event, we had air-conditioning, easy parking, CNN, and quiet hallways.

Treviso itself was another walled town with narrow streets, an historic cathedral, an active town square, and plenty of shops. The added bonus was the Sile River that runs through the town via a series of fast-flowing canals. These waterways added enough of the feel of Venice for us, without the crowds.

From Treviso, we drove on a one-day excursion to Asolo and a pair of famous Palladian Villas. Asolo is a small town on a hill above the Veneto plains. Since Roman times, it has been a refuge from the heat of the valley and we appreciated the few degree temperature difference. Above the town, a bare rock bastion called La Rocca guarded the town and, after we climbed the hilltop, we discovered that this "business", too, was closed for the August vacation season. Oh well, the view over the plains was nice and a little morning exercise couldn't hurt.

Back in town, we walked past a number of palazzos dating from the 16th Century when Asolo was the luxurious refuge of Queen Caterina Cornaro after she lost favor with Venice. It seems she sided with her arranged-marriage husband in Istanbul instead of her Venetian family and this brought on formal exile when the two empires fought.

As the heat started setting in, we selected the terrace restaurant Ai Due Mori for yet another pleasant Italian meal. We were becoming accustomed to the local practice of a slow mid-day meal, followed by a pleasant rest. But today was a serious touring day, so there would be no rest. We were headed to two famous villas.

Our first villa had been built in 1550-1560 by the master architect Andrea Palladino for brothers Daniele and Marccantonio Barbaro. This villa is known as Villa di Maser, after the locality or Villa Barbaro. The lines are classic Palladino, with large common rooms in the middle and long wings on either side. Our tour was limited to the ornate central rooms, in part because the villa is still occupied by the family that has owned the villa for 150 years.

Next, we saw Villa Emo Capodilista, also built by Palladino in the mid 16th Century. This villa seemed even bigger and the surrounding grounds were well-maintained green lawns, even after the heat of the Italian summer. The interior struck us as quite livable, although walls covered with huge Zelotti frescoes may not be everyone's style. The long loggia porches perfectly matched the warm summer and we could imagine a great deal of country life being conducted in these shady arcades.

There are at least 40 more villas and a dozen or more castles and fortresses in the Treviso Province but our stay, like usual, was too short to see everything. We'll just add another entry to our list of places we should revisit.

On our last evening, we took a side trip to the Adriatic beach town of Bibione Pineda to visit a friend. We had met Mati in Frankfurt in my German class. She'd spent a few months in Germany but then returned to help her uncle run a hotel in the summer resort. "Pineda" was a typical beach town and we were visiting in the busiest week of the year. The private beach was well organized, with umbrella stands uniformly marking off the sand in about four-meter (13 foot) squares. It was kind of like pay parking for sun worshippers.

We left Mati as she started her evening shift. We had to get back to our room to get ready for the final push north. Tomorrow we were going to start a short stay in the Dolomite Mountains, or so we hoped.

Take care and we hope you enjoyed your summer parking place, palazzo, or umbrella.

Marianne and John

The cathedral in Treviso was built over centuries. During that time, domes were added and modified.

The old part of town had a number of churches and chapels, some of which were connected. The effect was of a sanctuary inside the town.

We missed the day this fish market was full but we could see the interesting combination of modern and old. This market is on a small island in the middle of town and has been a place to buy and sell fish for a thousand years.

As the Sile River was divided into canals and routed through town, segments were tapped for power by these water wheels.

Homes and shops lined the canals.

There were also remnants of ancient cart paths, now incorporated into pedestrians paths and galleries.

Queen Caterin's view of La Rocca. We climbed up to the fortress but it was closed and breaking down the door wasn't an option.

The streets of Asolo were lined with old palazzos and some seemed to be built on even older foundations. Maybe Roman?

The chapel at Villa Barbaro was a work of architect Palladino's art as much as the main house.

The classic lines of the 16th Century Venetian country villa, Villa Barbero at Maser.

The lines of Villa Emo were even more elgant than those at its contemporary, Villa Barbero. At least that is my opinion.

Interior rooms were liveable, if one could get used to the frescoes.

My favorite feature was this long shaded porch. In the Italian summer, I could imagine spending a great deal of time here.

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	The cathedral in Treviso was built over centuries. During that time, domes were added and modified.		The old part of town had a number of churches and chapels, some of which were connected. The effect was of a sanctuary inside the town.
We missed the day this fish market was full but we could see the interesting combination of modern and old. This market is on a small island in the middle of town and has been a place to buy and sell fish for a thousand years.		As the Sile River was divided into canals and routed through town, segments were tapped for power by these water wheels.
	Homes and shops lined the canals.		There were also remnants of ancient cart paths, now incorporated into pedestrians paths and galleries.
Queen Caterin's view of La Rocca. We climbed up to the fortress but it was closed and breaking down the door wasn't an option.		The streets of Asolo were lined with old palazzos and some seemed to be built on even older foundations. Maybe Roman?
	The chapel at Villa Barbaro was a work of architect Palladino's art as much as the main house.		The classic lines of the 16th Century Venetian country villa, Villa Barbero at Maser.
The lines of Villa Emo were even more elgant than those at its contemporary, Villa Barbero. At least that is my opinion.		Interior rooms were liveable, if one could get used to the frescoes.
		My favorite feature was this long shaded porch. In the Italian summer, I could imagine spending a great deal of time here.