Villa Godi Malinverni in Lugo di Vicenza was the first villa designed by Andrea Palladio in approx. 1542. Standing on the slopes of a hill, it features elements typical of a castle such as a dovecote and a small turret that dominate the plain below. Prof. Remo Malinverni, who acquired the abandoned property in 1962, spent the last years of his life bringing back its original splendour.
The west-facing rear façade has a staircase that leads into a frescoed atrium and two small terraces. The fulcrum is the loggia and the central reception room, with four rooms leading off on each side. To the left is a small, two-storey portico while the right wing has a guest house and conference room. Nine rooms have notable frescoes by Gualtiero Padovano, Gianbattista Zelotti and Battista del Moro.
The Romantic style park was restored in 1852 by count Andrea Piovene to a design by Antonio Caregaro Negrin: it features ancient tall trees, 1,300m of paths and a central pond with swans. To the back of the villa are small Italian style gardens with basins, fountains and 50-odd statues by Marinali and Albanese.
Villa Godi Malinverni was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 with the other Palladian villas in the Veneto.
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