The story of Vicenza: Guided Half-Day E-Bike sightseeing Tour

The most complete guided and narrated tour to discover Vicenza, a city of many priceless UNESCO World Heritage beauties, captivating stories and troubling events, and of a humble stonemason who will go down in history by forever redefining Architecture and its canons. You will enjoy it aboard a comfortable and fun Palladian E-Bike, to reach even the wonders out of town inaccessible on foot, and not really miss anything in the City of Palladio.

Your Cicero Palladiano will lead you into the history of an unexpectedly ancient community, independent in spirit and merchant by vocation. A plot that will tell of international political alliances born from the ferment of the Reformation, of nobles not only in rank, and of the parable of a genius of the artist who became a model of modernity. From squares to palaces, from villas to bridges over the water to historic villages: every glimpse or panorama, every illustrious person will become part of an intertwining that you cannot help but love.

Our story begins and ends in one of the most significant private palaces built by Palladio and Unesco heritage. Here, in the heart of the historic centre, you will pick up your Palladian E-Bike and begin your travelling journey through history, accompanied by your excellent Cicero.

The history of Vicenza as we see it today is often, really, the history of Palladio. It could only begin, here, with a mention of his mentor, whose birthplace is right here in Corso Fogazzaro, the starting point of your journey. Giangiorgio Trissino, one of the finest intellectuals of the 16th century, was able to see the genius in the young Palladio, and introduce him to the very rich Vicenza society of the time, opening the doors to the transformation of the city and the birth of an architectural movement that still persists … this stage you will discover how, and what an extraordinary relationship of respect and friendship linked these two greats of the Renaissance.

The first Renaissance palace in the city and Palladio’s first private city work, created with great enthusiasm only two years after the beginning of his “higher education in architecture.” A stage in which to fully appreciate the budding but not immature talent of a Genius timeless…

The Ponte Furo and the view it offers to the passage will frame the story of how the myth of Palladio was born, how it was introduced to its first clients, many of whom will later become sponsors and friends, supporting its rise to its full realization. and not without twists …

From here, a few rides will take you to contemplate one of the most hidden and unexpected treasures of Vicenza: the site where it was built in the first century. B.C. its Roman Theater, a structure capable of hosting 5,000 spectators. You will retrace the steps of Palladio to explore its archaeological remains, hidden from view by the buildings built on site over time, which allowed the architect to map the original structure and study in depth the mastery of the Romans in the city …

The traces of a legacy, that of Palladio, immediately permeated the very identity of the city even beyond its passage. Along the road to the Rotonda – one of the most exciting stops on this route – you will be able to pass the wait admiring the Arco delle Scalette, a truly distinctive feature of Vicenza, particularly dear to its inhabitants. Clearly inspired by Palladio, it was attributed to the great architect from Vicenza but without certainty, and could indeed have been built after his death …

For almost everyone, the greatest Palladian masterpiece. Thanks to the freedom that Paolo Almerico granted him, the architect was in fact able to create a pure work, in which the magnificence of man’s intellect could shine, according to his highest ideal. It was the perfect location, the perfect client, the perfect setting, it was the perfect moment in the history of Palladio, as a man and as an artist. The result was what was not just a house, but almost a mysterious temple created to host the sacred discussion of enlightened men on philosophy, theology, politics, their ancient cultural heritage and their highest goals …

Before finishing this quick excursus outside the city and returning to the historic centre, your Cicero Palladiano will not miss the opportunity to introduce you to one of the jewels of the early 18th century in Vicenza, the result of the legacy of Andrea Palladio and its fruits in the centuries to come. Neoclassical architecture owes a lot to the city of Palladio, and in the splendid Villa Valmarana ai Nani – a work which was also frescoed by a Tiepolo at the height of his artistic career – its premises are already evident …

The most beautiful view of the city, framed by its enchanting mountains. This view from the terrace of Monte Berico will introduce you to Vicenza from above, introducing you to a bird’s eye view in the urban context of Palladian architecture in the historic centre, that orderly labyrinth that awaits you in the next stages of this tour ….

Palazzo Chiericati, also Unesco heritage, belonged to Gerolamo Chiericati, one of the first, fascinating supporters of Palladio, together with Giangiorgio Trissino and Giovanni Alvise Valmarana, helping him to obtain the first public work of Vicenza, the loggias of the Palazzo della Ragione. The Palazzo testifies to a Palladio grateful to his noble friend, and who will repay a few years later by suggesting him to seize an extraordinary opportunity: not one of the many palaces on the main road, but the scenic backdrop of the landing in Vicenza, naturally from Venice Serenissima, on the Bacchiglione river …

Inside, today the civic museum collects a collection of priceless works of Venetian art: Tintoretto, Veronese, Sansovino and many others.

Everything was accomplished here, in this final act that consecrated the genius of Palladio, delivering his gift to history in Vicenza, to his families, to Venice, to Art. With the Academy that the architect had helped to found several years earlier, he had obtained from the city the old prisons of the Castello del Territorio.
He was seventy-one years old and was about to build the first stable and covered theatre in the world. Brilliant in the architectural and scenic solutions, and hypnotic in its atmosphere … the magical illusion of an ideal world that the Olimpico offers to the visitor echoes the dream of Palladio not only for his adopted city but for the life itself of the Humanity…

From the Ponte degli Angeli, passing through Palazzo Angaran and Borgo S. Pietro, your guide Palladiano will be able to introduce you to that fascinating story of alliances and intrigues that led to the Reformation which also involved Renaissance Vicenza, partly tinged with Calvinism. A story that will also involve Palladio in some way, above all thanks to his friendships with the Angarano family, which will begin here and will have its dramatic implications in the next stage of your itinerary …

A quick passage to the place where the Convent of Aracoeli once stood, even before the baroque church that can be admired today. It was the scene of a shocking twist in the story of Bianca Nievo Angaran, poetess, intellectual and wife of that Giacomo Angaran to whom Palladio dedicated his first two Architectural Books. One of those extraordinary female figures of the Renaissance who paid dearly for her independence, refinement and freedom of thought …

Originally owned by the Capra family as La Rotonda, adjacent to one of their buildings in that Contrà San Marco that you will cross in your next stop, here we are in the splendid green lung of Vicenza. Purchased by the Querini family, thanks to the story of your guide you can imagine it when it housed a “moraro”, a mulberry plantation that fueled the rich Vicenza silk trade. An ancient business that made Vicenza a pole of contact and exchanges with the whole of Europe, a vocation rooted in the city’s DNA and which continues today, not only in the textile sector.

It is curious that, in the district dedicated to the Venetian patron saint, the memory of a construction site that Palladio was forced to neglect for a long time precisely because of Venice, or rather the many professional commitments that, at the height of his career, they saw him busy in the capital of the Serenissima. We are talking about Palazzo Schio Vaccari Lioy Angaran, and the facade that Bernardo da Schio commissioned for the architect, then dying before seeing it completed …

The ancient Temple of Santa Corona is a precious treasure chest of history and art, which offers the visitor its famous Bellini altarpiece and the Naturalistic and Archaeological Museum. But it is also, like every Vicenza stone, part of the history of Palladio, and in particular of its epilogue. The Temple housed the sepulchre of many of the most illustrious Vicentines of the past, and the Valmarana friends wanted the one who would remain the most illustrious artist linked to the city to rest here …

• Specialized infant seats are available
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• The tour can only be enjoyed by children with a minimum height of 1.50 meters. Child seats are only available for children up to 3 years old.

• Adults – Teens – Babies
  Add
  Vicenza Sightseeing Tour
  Palladian E-Bike
  Children height min 1.5 meters

• Your Cicero Palladiano, who will narrate to you the history of the city
• Your Palladian E-Bike

• Vicenza Card, that will later allow you to visit up to 11 city attractions – € 20,00
• The price above is the standard one, possible reductions are not indicated.
• The tour is an out-door itinerary, any entrance to single touristic attractions is excluded

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The entrance ticket to the tour attractions will be given to travelers upon departure from Palazzo Valmarana Braga.

Please be advised..

• This Tour is Provided by Palladian Routes Srl.
• Tour Timezone & Starts at Europe/Rome.
• Mobile or paper ticket accepted.
• All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
• This Tour is Rated 5 Stars based on 14 valid reviews on VIATOR.
• Minimum 1 Travelers is required to book.
• Maximum 15 Travelers is accepted for booking.