Why is a 9.85 metre fossil palm lying in a Palladian villa’s museum?

In this story: The secret garden and the trees to find ↓ / The fossil palm ↓ / Private events in a historic Italian villa ↓

In its journey through Palladio’s Veneto, Le Monde recalls the scenes Alida Valli and Farley Granger filmed here for Luchino Visconti’s Senso. The address is Villa Godi Malinverni, in Lonedo, Lugo di Vicenza, north of Vicenza in Veneto, Italy. Beyond the frescoed rooms, the visit continues through gardens designed by Palladio and a romantic park whose former carriage house contains the remains of a tropical world. [1][3][5]

THE SECRET GARDEN AND THE TREES TO FIND

Behind the villa, a stone well occupies the centre of the secret garden, with stairways leading towards the raised terraces and beneath a wisteria pergola. Its stone came from Monte Summano, the mountain visible from the villa’s loggia. The Palladio Museum documents the architect’s work on the semicircular rear garden and its carved wellhead, a connection you can follow from the building into the landscape. [2][3] 

The walk extends into a later romantic park, past old magnolias and along an avenue of cedars once travelled by visiting carriages. Beside the lake grows a mature Ginkgo biloba; nearby swamp cypresses have roots projecting above the soil. Spring brings tulips, narcissi, peonies and roses, while summer adds hydrangeas and flowering cannas. The estate’s downloadable botanical catalogue helps identify the trees and flowers along the way. [4]

THE FOSSIL PALM

The palm lies horizontally in the museum’s main room, its 9.85 metres preserving roots, trunk and leaves together. Discovered in 1863, it required four years of work to extract. The Touring Club Italiano singles it out as the principal attraction of the collection. [5][6]

It owes its place here to Count Andrea Piovene, the villa’s nineteenth century owner, who financed excavations beside the nearby Chiavone stream. The finds revealed a landscape dating back around thirty million years, when this part of the Vicenza territory had a tropical coastal environment, with palms, ferns and waters inhabited by fish and molluscs. [5] Those discoveries became the Pierluigi Malinverni Fossil Museum, housed where the estate once sheltered its carriages. The palm you see here grew in the surrounding territory, giving this Italian fossil museum an unusually direct relationship with the countryside outside its doors. [5][6]

PRIVATE EVENTS IN A HISTORIC ITALIAN VILLA

An aperitivo overlooking the Astico valley, a civil wedding beneath Renaissance frescoes, a private dinner in the old farm wing: the estate accepts bookings for occasions of different sizes. The Salone d’Onore, its principal reception hall, accommodates up to 100 guests, with smaller rooms available for more intimate gatherings. The Italian gardens and walled park provide space for receptions and photographs. [7] Private lunches and dinners can be arranged in selected villa rooms or the barchessa, the historic farm wing. For an Italian villa wedding, the Salone d’Onore is authorised for civil ceremonies, allowing the celebration to begin inside the frescoed house and continue elsewhere on the estate. Spaces, catering and access for guests are agreed when booking. [7][8]

PLAN YOUR VISIT

The standard admission ticket includes the villa, Palladio’s gardens, the historic park and the museums. Consult the official visitor information for opening times and tickets; contact the property for private visits, dinners and weddings. [8][9]