Italy Guide
The Veneto
The Villa Valmarana
Opening time: March 15– Nov 5 Tues– Sun 10am– noon & 3–6pm; rest of year Sat & Sun 10am– noon & 2–4pm
Price: €8
Ten-minutes' walk away from Monte Bérico is the Villa Valmarana "ai Nani" – go back down the hill, head along Via M. D'Azeglio for 100m, then turn right into the cobbled Via S. Bastiano, which ends at the villa. This is an undistinguished house made extraordinary by the decorations of Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo. Nani, by the way, means "dwarfs", the significance of which becomes clear when you see the garden wall.
There are two parts to the house: the Palazzina, containing six rooms frescoed with typical virtuosity by Giambattista (you're handed a brief guide to the paintings at the entrance); and the Foresteria, one room of which is frescoed by Giambattista and six by Giandomenico, whose predilections are a little less heroic than his father's – but his down to earth peasants have rather more appeal.