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VICENZA - ITALY
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. 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).
Province: 2,722 sq. km, 2001 pop. 794,317, 121 communes .
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 Rotunda" which is located just
outside the downtown area and the public building Basilica Palladiana of
which Palladio himself said that it might stand comparison with any similar
work of antiquity, centrally located in Vicenza's Piazza dei Signori, and
the Teatro Olimpico. Palladio also designed several palazzi for families in
the city, most notably the Palazzo Chiericati and the Palazzo Barbarano. All
these buildings date from ca 1560 - 1590 .
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