Vicenza

What a wonderful surprise Vicenza turned out to be!

It took only a short time to get there AND there were very few tourists!  You just couldn't beat that!

Vicenza was founded in the 2nd century B.C and prospered under Venetian rule from the 15th to the end of the 18th centuries.  It is considered the Italian Capital of architecture and is often referred to as the "City of Palladio", after Antonio Palladio who was the architect responsible for the renovation of many buildings in the 1500's.  And Vieenza was certain to memorialize him for his creative thinking abilities and architectural talent.

When we first arrived, we headed to Santa Corona, because we realized that it would only be open until noon, and we wanted to view some of the famous paintings in the interior.

We certainly were not disappointed as we viewed Bellini's famous Baptism of Christ 

And  Adoration of the Magi by P. Varonese

There was also this lovely representation of the Virgin Mary with SS Joachim and Anne, her parents.

I've cropped the photo to feature the painting because these images are so large that you would miss the details with a regular photo.  

It was well worth making the effort to view these beauties, that's for certain.

Moving on, we walked past the Palazzo Chiericati, now an art museum,

and headed towards the Piazzo Signori and Piazza Elbe which adjoin each other.  If these names sound familiar, they were also Piazzas in Verona.

Here we saw the Bissara tower, which stands 82 meters high and has a beautiful motif featured on the front of the building.

the columns of St. Mark and the Redeemer

and the Loggia del Capitaniato

A short distance away, we viewed the Cathedrale of Piazza Duomo

It was not open for public viewing.

As we walked along, I could not help but admire the frescoes and medallions decorating the facades of the Palazzas.

Everywhere we turned it seemed that there was some fantastic building to examine

We stopped for lunch in a lovely restaurant, where I couldn't resist taking a photo of our friends under the Tiki masks

How entertaining is that?  

On the way back to our car, we passed a statue of Garibaldi

and the Torriene di Porta Costella

As you can see, the day was picture perfect, and we thoroughy enjoyed our visit to this lovely city.

Later in the day, Marty and I headed over to the Duomo in Cittadella to check out the interior paintings.  I spotted one that was painted in the 16th century by Jacopo Apollonio.

It was entitled La Madonna della Cintala con Santa Rita, & Santi Battista, Lorenza e La Trinita.

The painting itself is a little dark, but it surely amazed me that I was viewing something that was painted so long ago, and that it still looked so beautiful.  

Visiting this area of Italy has certainly been quite the learning experience, and Marty and I are thrilled to have been able to spend this week with Morena and Dennis.

Today we head to Venice with "the Cousins" as our tour guides.

It's going to prove to be an exciting and informative day.........I can feel it!

Arrivederci!!