The climbing arcade
150 roofed arches rising from the city to the hill.
Maurizio Martinelli — CC BY-SA 4.0 · maurizio martinelli — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maurizio Moro5153 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Oursana — CC0
**A pilgrimage church on a hilltop reached by a roofed arcade of a hundred and fifty arches — and the best view of Vicenza** — south of the city. The first church was built in the **15th century** after the Virgin appeared — by tradition — to a woman of the city during an outbreak of plague; **the present church is 18th-century Baroque** with a dome. ✅ **A roofed arcade climbs to it from the city** through some **150 arches** — **on the model of Bologna's San Luca portico**, **and for the same purpose**: to shelter processions from the rain. ⚠ **In its refectory hangs Paolo Veronese's *Supper of Saint Gregory the Great*** — ⚠ **which Austrian soldiers' bayonets cut to pieces in 1848**, and which was restored. ✅ **And from its terrace the whole city and the hills are spread out.**
150 roofed arches rising from the city to the hill.
All Vicenza, its domes and the hills, from the terrace.
The Supper of Saint Gregory in the refectory.
Viale X Giugno 87, 36100 Vicenza, Italy
**All of Vicenza is a World Heritage site because of him — and three sites will do.** ✅ **Why the whole city**: UNESCO listed **«the City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto»** ⚠ **because Palladio did not build one landmark in it but reshaped the city itself**: **a basilica on the main square**, **private palaces along the streets**, **a theatre**, **and villas around it** — **so you walk down an ordinary street and pass three of his works**. ✅ **A plan for the day**: **morning in the centre** — **the Basilica Palladiana** on Piazza dei Signori (free from outside), **then the Corso Palladio**, the main street with his palaces on both sides, **then the Teatro Olimpico** (⚠ **book, or check it is open**). ✅ **Afternoon outside the centre**: **walk or bus up to Monte Berico** for the view, **then down to Villa Valmarana ai Nani** (⚠ check it is open), **then on foot to La Rotonda** along the country lane — **all three on one walking route**. ⚠ **The most important warning**: **La Rotonda and Valmarana have very limited and non-matching opening days** — **check both before building your day around them**.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.