An enchanting building from the 1500s, a magical Venetian Villa in Mira, along the Riviera del Brenta, where restoration work in recent years has uncovered architectural and artistic treasures hidden by time and numerous tampering.
In this historic residence, where two Doges of the Serenissima and the last Dogaressa of Venice lived, one can admire the helicoidal staircase leading to the frescoed rooms of the piano nobile where Doge Silvestro Valier once used to hold sumptuous receptions that the history of the Republic still remembers. The Villa is immersed in a luxuriant garden among century-old trees.
The ground floor rooms with their typical Venetian-style terrazzo floors, ceilings decorated with Sansovino beams and precious period furniture give guests the impression of having been catapulted into an era when elegant details and the art of fine living were indispensable qualities. The room with the archaeological excavation under the glass floor, the fireplace with its Dutch majolica tiles, the antique Viennese piano and the elegant Art Nouveau lamp all tell of different eras, interwoven into the unique and original structure that is Villa Valier.
Finally, in the Oratory one can admire a splendid marble altar with an altarpiece attributed to Maganza. The importance of the place is immediately perceived when observing that baby Jesus holding a Doge's horn in his hand, symbolising membership of the reigning family; and that testament engraved in black marble, commissioned by Dogaressa Elisabetta Querini in the year of her husband's death, speaks to us of faith but also of power and finally of love.
Duration of the visit: about 45 minutes
