The loggia, located within the Salvi Garden, rises over the waters of the Seriola at the point where the watercourse, coming from the west, bends towards the south.
The hexastyle front of the loggia, resting on arches supported by robust pillars emerging from the riverbed, is marked by Tuscan-Doric columns in five architraved intercolumniations, the middle of which is wider, and is crowned by a triangular pediment that rises over the three central openings.
On the back side, the loggia has three rooms that connect to the remains of the Scaliger walls. On the western side, topped by a tympanum, the loggia opens laterally onto the garden through an arched opening.
According to what is read on the frieze, the work would have been carried out at the behest of Leonardo Valmarana, and the date of construction would be the year 1592 as indicated in the inscription.
The attribution of the design to Palladio raises several doubts among scholars, as no documents supporting this have been found, nor do the timing and methods of construction seem to allow for such attribution.
It is certain that the work on the garden outside the walls, commissioned by the Valmarana family, began in 1556; in 1563, the small house behind the loggia was recorded.
Based on these events, a hypothesis has recently been put forward to anticipate the construction date from the 1590s to the 1560s, and it has been suggested that it may be attributed to Paolo Antonio Valmarana, son of Giacomo Valmarana, who was the proponent of the opening of the garden; Paolo Antonio may have been inspired by a design long thought to be by Palladio, with whom he was on friendly terms, but in reality it was by Vincenzo Scamozzi.
The date 1592 on the entablature could thus refer to the year the Garden was opened to the public by Leonardo Valmarana.
Even in the absence of certain information about the genesis and the timing of conception and realization of the monument, the loggia nonetheless testifies to the early influence exerted by Palladio's mastery on the cultural environment of Vicenza.
