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Villa Benetton, also known as “La Marignana”, is in the agricultural areas surrounding the town of Mogliano Veneto, in the village of Morocco. It is an XVIII century villa with a Venetian layout – built on a XVII-century structure – which has undergone numerous changes of ownership, until 1967. In that year, in fact, it was purchased by the sculptor Toni Benetton, an internationally renowned artist, who made it a place of culture and of art.
The villa currently houses the “Toni Benetton” museum (with iron macrosculptures inserted in the centuries-old park), the International Iron Academy (commissioned by the artist himself as a reference point for sculptors of his sector), and the International Documentation Center on iron, bronze and other metals.

THE VILLA

The villa is made of four residential blocks and develops according to an L-shaped layout, with the long part parallel to the road and the short one perpendicular to it. The external facade features an essential style, decorated with a wrought-iron balcony and a triangular tympanum.
The rooms were built with Sansovino-styled ceilings, typical Venetian floors and walls decorated with stuccoes; one of them features a fireplace in rare red marble.
At the main entrance of the estate, there are two engraved gates, with statues attributed to a member of the family of sculptor Giovanni Bonazza.

THE PARK

The main entrance leads to the garden in front of the house, characterized by a paved square, wells and stone seats, with a centuries-old specimen of Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani) in the middle. The entrance behind the house opens onto a park of more than 4.95 acres, full of lush vegetation featuring several tall trees and lawns. The whole estate is enriched by several sculptures by Benetton: large iron figures representing animals, dancers, saints and heroes.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)