Appointment at 9:00 AM at the dock in front of Villa Foscarini Rossi in Stra
After boarding the passengers, navigation begins with the crossing of the Stra Locks. Along the entire Brenta Canal, there are 5 locks (or navigation chambers), which function as true water elevators to cover the height difference between the cities of Padua and Venice. The navigation ends on the Piovego Canal, precisely in front of the majestic Villa Giovanelli Colonna, where disembarkation occurs and the excursion continues on foot.
Walking tour of the historic center of Noventa Padovana, an ancient river port of Padua until 1200, featuring illustrations of the monumental realities visible along the route such as Villa Vendramin Cappello Collizzolli, built in the mid-1500s and then radically renovated in the 1700s; the ancient medieval Church of Saints Peter and Paul, rebuilt in 1747, which recalls the style of the Venetian architect Giorgio Massari, containing works by Danieletti and Bonazza; the 18th-century Villa Marcello Todeschini, classically designed with a central tympanum and accompanied in 1805 by a small church.
And finally, the internal visit to Villa Grimani Vendramin Calergi Valmarana.
The villa stands on a medieval castle of the Delesmanini family, who ceded the territory on which the villa stands to Enrico Scrovegni. In 1502, the Villa “a large masonry house with a courtyard all around enclosed by a wall with some land near the Brenta River” was sold to the patriarch of Aquileia Domenico Grimani; at the beginning of the 1600s, the villa followed a young Grimani who married Vettor Calergi, scion of a powerful Venetian noble family; inherited in 1738 by Nicolo Vendramin, the great-granddaughter Elena Marina Maria Vendramin-Calergi married Count Andrea Valmarana, who left her a widow in 1861: the countess bequeathed the villa to the municipality of Noventa Padovana with the obligation to establish a school for deaf-mute girls and not to move the portrait of the countess and her husband from its original position.
Inside the villa, there are vast 18th-century fresco complexes and rococo decorations in chinoiserie that embellish the noble floor, works of the set designer and painter Andrea Urbani.
The visit will be accompanied by the music of Michele Bargigia, known as Giotto, who will improvise musical performances based on the feelings experienced during the visit.
Behind the villa, the Brenta River used to flow; in fact, originally, the façade was at the back of the current villa.
After the visit, a return walk to Villa Giovannelli, boarding on the boat and returning to Stra around 1:00 PM.
Note: since the two walks, from Villa Giovanelli to Villa Grimani Valmarana and back, are about 1500 meters each, it is recommended to wear comfortable shoes.
