Piazza Giacomo Matteotti
Opening hours: tue-sun 9-17 (9-19 dal 1/7 al 31/8)
Admission: min. gratis max € 7,8

"In Vicenza upon the Piazza, which is vulgarly called the Isola, the Count Valerio Chiericati, an honourable gentleman of that city, has built according to the following invention.
This fabric has in the part below a loggia forwards, that takes in the whole front..."
The palace was designed by Palladio in 1550 and is universally recognized as one of his finest works.
Only a small part of the uncompleted building was constructed during Palladio's lifetime and the work was continued in the 17th century (c. 1680). The western section of the courtyard was built in the 19th century by Giovanni Miglioranza who also demolished the adjoining house marking the junction of Piazza dell'Isola and the Corso, thereby changing the original context. Andrea Palladio achieved an extraordinary structure, befitting this important centre of land and water borne communications between Vicenza and the eastern Veneto.
Martin Kubelìk points out that, being oriented towards the port that existed in this area, "the Palladian facade opens, not only onto an important Vicenza square, but also towards the entire mainland and, simbolically, towards all the Venetian properties in the East. This facade should be admired," adds the historian, "not just for its armonic proportion and unique light and shade, but also for its urban and rural signifiance".
The upper section of the facade with its closed central body and two lateral loggias has the distinctive layout of a suburban residence.
The interior of the palace is still adorned with 16th-century decorations and frescoes by Domenico Brusasorci and Battista Zelotti.
The Palladian Piovene Palace, built in 1569, also stood in Piazza Matteotti where the Retrone river once ran into the Bacchiglione, but in 1818 it was demolished to make way for the city slaughterhouse. It is still possible to see a sad reminder of this building in the premises of a garage at the beginning of Via Giuriolo.