Spend an evening on the rooftop of a UNESCO Palladian monument in Vicenza

About

When the daytime visitors are leaving the Basilica Palladiana, another way into the building begins: summer evenings on its rooftop terrace.  On summer Fridays and Saturdays, the terrace remains open until 1 am, which gives you the rare pleasure of spending an entire evening on top of a UNESCO Palladian monument for the price of a €2 admission ticket.

Drinks are extra, Palladio fortunately is included.

FIRST, THIS IS NOT A CHURCH

Basilica: the name catches plenty of visitors out. Palladio himself called the building a basilica after the great civic buildings of ancient Rome, places for politics, justice and business. Behind Palladio’s white stone loggias is the much older Palazzo della Ragione, Vicenza’s medieval seat of government. Winning the commission in 1549 changed Palladio’s career. Vicenza had spent decades consulting some of the biggest architectural names of Renaissance Italy before entrusting the job to the local thirty eight year old architect. The project eventually cost around 60,000 ducats and made him, effectively, the city’s architect. Several centuries later, his most important early public commission has acquired a rooftop bar. A reasonable afterlife.

A VERY PALLADIAN COVER-UP: BASILICA PALLADIANA BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

THE PERFECT PALLADIAN FAÇADE IS HIDING A CROOKED MEDIEVAL BUILDING

The Basilica looks serenely mathematical from Piazza dei Signori. It is not. Palladio was wrapping a new classical skin around the much older Palazzo della Ragione, whose walls, openings and corners had already developed ideas of their own. The genius of the façade is partly an exercise in concealment: the great arches stay consistent, while the narrower side openings expand and contract to absorb the irregular medieval building behind them. Renaissance perfection, with a considerable amount of corrective tailoring underneath.

VICENZA SPENT DECADES DECIDING WHAT TO DO WITH IT

This was not a quick municipal decision. After an earlier loggia partly collapsed in 1496, Vicenza spent decades discussing its replacement and consulting some of the biggest architectural names available, including Jacopo Sansovino, Sebastiano Serlio, Michele Sanmicheli and Giulio Romano. In other words, the sixteenth century version of commissioning studies, inviting star architects, rejecting proposals and continuing the discussion for another few years. Eventually, in 1549, the city chose the thirty eight year old Andrea Palladio. It proved a fairly decent decision.

LOOK THROUGH THE ARCHES, THEY ARE ALL SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT

Stand beneath the loggias and look carefully along the façade. The famous serliane, the Palladian openings with a large central arch and two smaller rectangular openings beside it, only appear identical from a distance. Palladio varied the width of the side openings from bay to bay, adjusting each one to the older building concealed behind the stone screen. So one of the great symbols of Renaissance order is actually full of tiny adjustments. Once you know, it becomes very difficult not to start comparing the arches while sipping your drink.