We are an anglo-italian family of
travellers who have spent our holidays in many bed and
breakfast's around Europe, visiting many budget B&B
accommodation and housefarms. We thought we would like to
share with
other people the good experiences we had by travelling on the cheap and
getting the opportunity of meeting many new friends and getting in
contact with lots of other cultures. We decided to put part of our home
at the disposal of other travellers like us on a bed and breakfast
basis. Our budget accommodation
is located only 15 mins. by bus from Venice Piazzale Roma (downtown
area) and we are based in the area of Riviera Del Brenta, where all the
famous palladian Villas are. Our guests will be welcomed in a pleasant,
familiar environment, enjoying all the comfort and the peace of a home
with a private garden. From our home you can easily reach Venice,
Padua, Treviso and the Dolomites Mountains. We speak fluent english and
good french. Services: English & French speaking, a
peaceful garden, Internet access, free bikes, barbeque available in the
garden, information and tourist advice for the area, local swimming
pool at 1 km. Advice on planning historical, natural, gastronomic and
folkloristic itineraries. Bus tickets are available for sale at the
house. We can also organise excursions to the Riviera del Brenta and
entries in the Villas, for prices please enquiry when booking or on
arrival.
ABOUT THE RIVIERA DEL BRENTA
A strip of land along the
river Brenta, which flows from Padua to Venice: gardens and gorgeous
artistic villas are the landscape of The Brenta Riviera. It is made up
of districts and green spots along the ancient course of a river
linking Padua to Venice. A charming trip, which enchanted poets and
travellers. Memories of this land were written by Lord Byron and
Goethe, and by the Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, the scientist
Galileo Galilei, the playwriter Carlo Goldoni. In his poem "The Divine
Comedy", the great poet Dante Alighieri mentiones the city of Oriago.
The
history of the Brenta Riviera began in the 15th-16th century, when rich
Venetian families bought large estates and built villas where they
spent the summertime and where they managed the land cultivation: they
asked the best architects to design their villas and foresterie (guest
houses) so gorgeous as not to miss their Grand Canal in Venice. So the
Riviera del Brenta can be described as the "Grand Canal" sinked in the
green of the villas parks and the countryside. The whole beauty of this
land can be appreciated at its most by travelling by boat: "vaporettos"
and "gondolas" in Venice Gran Canal, and the "Burchiello" and the
"Battelli del Brenta" to travel down the river Brenta. The best known
villas of the Riviera, departing from Malcontenta, are: Villa Foscari
(by the architect Andrea Palladio); Villa Valmarana; Villa Widmann in
Mira; Villa Angeli in Dolo; Villa Soranzo in Fiesso; Villa Pisani in
Stra (the biggest and richest one), with frescoes by Tiepolo and
Guarana, gardens and a famous labyrinth. 
foto di Paolo
Bonvoglia 2002 The Brenta Riviera was the ideal extension of
Venice onto the mainland, almost a continuation of the lagoon city:
between the 16th and 18th century it experienced a golden age which
turned it into a privileged holiday resort for rich Veentian nobles.
They built dozens of villas along the riverbanks, designed and
decorated by masters of Italian art, visited by artists, popes, kings
and men of culture, envied for their beauty, inhabited as country seats
where they celebrated ritual floating processions, sumptuous dinners
and festivities lasting until dawn.
The building of villas
along the Riviera del Brenta began in the 15th century, when Venice
extended its dominion over the mainland. Growing commercial
difficulties and the the discovery of America led Venetians to invest
their capital in the purchase of farmlands. The villas were built close
to the riverbanks so that the gentlemen could keep their investments
under personal control while taking the opportunity of a family
holiday. In the 16th century villa Foscari at Malcontenta and villa
Soranzo at Fiesso were built with ouside frescoes by Paolo Veronese's
brother. Fashion brought then to enrich gardens with busts and baroque
decorations such as in Villa Morosini in Mirano and Villa Sagredo in
Vigonovo. In the 18th century Villa Widmann in Mira and Villa Pisani in
Stra were built, maybe the most spectacular ones. Inside the villas
there are whole cycle of paintings, mainly mythological: by Zelotti in
Villa Malcontenta, by B. de Pitati in Villa Querini in Mira; by Angeli
in Villa Widmann, by Tiepolo in Villa Pisani in Stra. Also the churches
are interesting to visit, with their precious decorations and paintings.
foto di Paolo
Bonvoglia 2002 From March to October the villas and the
riverbanks are best admired from the water's edge, by boat. The
Burchiello (after the name of the boat mentioned by Carlo Goldoni)
which links daily Padova to Venezia, is a good occasion to enjoy the
Riviera from its most natural point of view. |
