Rocca Pisana is a Venetian villa designed by the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi in the Palladian style in 1576. The client was Vettor Pisani, a Venetian nobleman who already owned considerable landholdings in the area of Lonigo-Bagnolo.
Architect and artist Manfredo Massironi remembered Villa Rocca Pisana as “a life’s experience, a therapy session”. Indeed, beyond its value as Scamozzi‘s most important work, as reassessed by art historiography in the mid 20th century, something magical captures those who have the privilege of spending a few hours in this ancient villa in Vicenza.
Rocca Pisana dominates the plain below perched on a hill near the small town of Lonigo. The sense of detachment from the “common life”, together with the symbiosis between the building, which opens to the sky and into the woods, and the natural surroundings convey to the visitor the feeling of being at the same time within the building and outside surrounded by nature and give a sense of comfort and relaxation. Thus in this way we can say that a day in this ancient place “is a therapeutic experience.” This was probably the thought of “the architect of light” when planning his most important work in 1574 after being commissioned by Vector Pisani, the noble of an important Venetian family and the eldest son of Giovanni, who in November 1523 bought the estate of Bagnolo.
