Overview

The Riviera del Brenta, a well-known waterway between Padua and Venice, is an interesting panoramic area from historical, natural, artistic and cultural point of view. It is a natural extension of the Venice Grand Canal and is flanked by picturesque Venetian villages and surrounded by an agricultural landscape. The Riviera del Brenta has fascinated many important personalities at all times: Casanova, Galileo Galilei, Byron, Montesquieu and D'Annunzio have visited it, Canaletto, Cimaroli and Tiepolo have painted it and it has been praised in the masterpieces of Goldoni and Goethe . The French and Russian royal families, the Habsburgs, the Savoy and even Napoleon stayed here and the Venetian nobility chose it as the setting for their Venetian villas. Here the Venetians built magnificent residences, enclosed by monumental gardens, frescoed and designed by the most important artists of the time such as Palladio, Tiziano and Tintoretto.

Description

Stop At: Villa Valmarana, Via Valmarana 11, Mira 30034

The Barchessa Valmarana belongs to the rich artistic heritage of the Venetian Villas. Built as a sumptuous aristocratic residence in the 1600s and finely restored by the sculptor Luciano Minguzzi in the second half of the 20th century, Villa Valmarana now includes the sumptuous rooms of the Barchessa and the lush gardens that surround it. Should Villa Valmarana be closed, we will visit Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Museo Nazionale di Villa Pisani, Via Doge Pisani, 7, Stra

Villa Pisani in Stra is a late Baroque Venetian villa located along the Riviera del Brenta, near the city of Stra, a few kilometers from Venice. Villa Pisani is the most impressive, the largest and the most visited villa on the Riviera. It was built on a pre-existing building to celebrate the glory of the Pisani family when Alvise Pisani was elected doge in 1735. After the end of the Serenissima, it was owned of Napoleon, in 1814 the Austrians took over. When Venice joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1866, Vittorio Emanuele II stayed there for a short time and two years later it became the property of the state. Since the late 1800s it has been a National Museum.
Countless guests and important visitors from all over Europe: Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Gustavo of Sweden, Maria Luigia of Parma and many others. In 1934 Hitler and Mussolini met there.

Duration: 1 hour

Pass By: I Molini di Dolo, Centro Storico, Dolo 30031

The mill of Dolo, built in the first half of the sixteenth century and immortalized in a famous painting by Canaletto, represents one of the most evocative views of Dolo.
In the façade of the building, a copy of the image of the Madonna dei Molini, to which the procession held every year on April 26th is dedicated.
Today I Mulini del Dolo host a characteristic wine bar.
The internal room is warm and welcoming, and it is still possible to admire the ancient gears of the mill while savoring typical dishes and a well-stocked selection of cheeses and wines on solid wooden tables.
The aperitif, by the river, will give you one of the most beautiful views of the Riviera.
Do not miss the splendid veranda where you will find plaid that, with a good glass of wine, will warm you in the colder seasons.

Pass By: Dolo, Dolo

One of the little towns on the Riviera del Brenta, Dolo lies along the banks of the river which divides the historic center into two hamlets; in the middle, there is the Lower Island, the heart of the town and the oldest area. The inhabited area next to the church was known as Isola del Maltempo due to frequent flooding of the Brenta River. On the Isola Bassa there is the the Seriola Veneta, a canal famous because it carried the water of the Brenta to the edge of the lagoon, from where it was then transported by burci (typical boats) to the wells of Venice. The characteristic houses and the mills are reflected on the Naviglio del Brenta, offering those who stroll through the alleys and narrow squares glimpses of rare beauty. You cannot miss a visit to the squero, a typical local building that served as a covered yard where the boats was built and repaired; Also to vist the Duomo with its bell tower, 80 meters high, the second in Veneto after San Marco in Venice.