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Vicenza (population 107,223) is the capital of the province of Vicenza in the Veneto region, northern Italy at the northern base of the Monti Berici, straddling the Bacchiglione. At 45°33′ N 11°33′ E, Vicenza is approximately 60 km west of Venice and 200 km east of Milan. The city has an active and lively industrial sector, which is especially famous for jewelry and clothing factories. The Gold Exposition is world-famous and it takes place in Vicenza three times per year (January, June, September).
History
Vicenza (Roman "Vicetia") an ancient Roman municipium (from 49 BCE) was overshadowed by its neighbor Patavium (Padua) in Roman times and in medieval times by its neighbor Venice: three of the bridges across the Bacchiglione and Retrone are of Roman origin, and isolated arches of the Roman aqueduct exist outside Porta Sta. Croce. In the 5th century, first Alaric then Attila laid it waste, and later Vicenza became the seat of one of the dozens of Lombard dukes, then in the 8th century of a Frankish count. The independent commune with an oligarchic republican political structure was conquered in 1311 by the Scaligeri lords of Verona, who fortified it against the Visconti of Milan. Vicenza gave itself to the protection of Venice in 1405.
Vicenza is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
Arts
The late Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1518-1580) was a native of Vicenza, as was also his contemporary, Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552-1616). Vicenza is home to several buildings of Palladio . Of notable interest is the summer house called Villa Capra "La Rotonda", located just outside the downtown area; the public building Basilica Palladiana, centrally located in Vicenza's Piazza dei Signori, of which Palladio himself said that it might stand comparison with any similar work of antiquity; and the Teatro Olimpico. Palladio also designed several palazzi for families in the city, most notably the Palazzo Chiericati, home of Vicenza's museum, and the Palazzo Barbarano. All these buildings date from ca 1560 - 1590.
Popular dishes
The inhabitants of Vicenza are pejoratively known to other Italians as "cat eaters". Purportedly, Vicentinos turned to cats for sustenance during times of famine.
Famous people from Vicenza
- Roberto Baggio, soccer player
- Federico Faggin, inventor
- Antonio Fogazzaro, writer
- Andrea Palladio, architect
- Goffredo Parise, writer
- Guido Piovene, writer
- Antonio Pigafetta, explorer
- Vincenzo Scamozzi, architect
- Tullio Campagnolo, Bicycle maker
- Manuel Righele, novelist and short story writer
- Luigi Meneghello, writer (professor at Reading Univerisy)
External links
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