imports from Vicenza, italy

"Vicenza"

Vicenza is curiously tranquil for a city marked by the dichotomy of its inner life. On one hand, it is a typical provincial town of aristocratic origin, and on the other, it is one of the strongest industrial centers in all of Italy. Crown jewel of the wealthy Veneto region, Vicenza boasts the highest per capita income and lowest rate of unemployment of all the Italian provinces.

The Vicenzian mercantile empire is based on simplicity. Things like gold, for example, that are the mainstay of trade. Gold is crafted by over 800 local enterprises which present their products at three annual international fairs.

The city was much favored by Palladio, a supreme Italian architect of the 1500's. Indeed, his villas and noble residences which line the exceptionally beautiful Piazza dei Signori have become the symbols of Vicenza.

The centre of the city, still partly enclosed by medieval walls, is an amalgam of Gothic & Classical buildings, that today looks much as it did when the last major phase of construction came to an end at the close of the eighteenth century. This historic core is compact enough to be explored in a day, but the city and its environs really require a short stay to do them justice.

In 1404 Vicenza was absorbed by Venice, and the city's numerous Gothic palaces reflect its status as a Venetian satellite. But in the latter half of the sixteenth century the city was transformed by the work of an architect who owed nothing to Venice and whose rigorous but flexible style was to influence every succeeding generation - Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, alias Palladio.

Vicenza Stone