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Excerpt from: “I giardini delle ville venete”, by Camilla Zanarotti, Silvana Editoriale

In the late XVI century, the Dal Bene brothers purchased the property from a monastic order and commissioned the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi to restore the buildings. The conservatories, or “limonaie”, are mentioned in his book “The Idea of a Universal Architecture” and have been attributed to him. After several changes of ownership, in 1849 the villa passed into the hands of the Scopoli counts until 1994 when the last heir donated the complex to the Don Mazza Foundation.

The XVII century gardens extend to the east of the villa towards the slopes of the hill. The hill is still home to the belvedere, which was built here to take advantage of its slopes. The monumental elliptical fishpond is located to the south, through a massive rusticated gateway. This is bordered by a stone balustrade and decorated with water features. The caves, decorated with stucco, shells and stalactites, are in line with the entrance gateway.
The entire complex is bordered by a wall, punctuated on the inside by pilasters, niches and two Doric aediculae with telamons.
In the mid-XIX century, Count Ippolito Scopoli redesigned the gardens and created a romantic landscape, allowing visitors to enjoy picturesque views that open out from the wooded hill.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)