The building was constructed at the turn of the 1500s, at the behest of the Ferrarese family of Arienti. After a brief period with the Schiatti family, the villa was sold in the 1600s to the powerful Saracco dynasty, of noble Pavia origins, who maintained it for a long time until the 1800s, when it was ceded to the Giglioli family, one of the most powerful houses in Polesine, which in 1921 donated it to the Municipality of Ficarolo, who, with radical and ruthless adaptations inside, used it for several decades as a municipal headquarters.
The villa appears powerful and austere, clearly inspired by the dictates of Estense military architecture and distinctly foreign to the precepts of Venetian noble villas. The building has served as an example for other more recent villas built in the centuries in the nearby towns, such as the 18th-century ones in Calto and Stienta and others in nearby Bondeno and surroundings. The central body presents itself with exposed bricks and a white dentil cornice, has two characteristic chimneys on the roof, is flanked by two protruding towers with hipped roofs and topped with finials with weathervanes. It could almost resemble the ancient destroyed castle, which legend has it stood on the very same site, a fact not documented by any evidence, but it is certain that once the castle disappeared, the history of Ficarolo passed through this villa.
Noteworthy is the elegant external staircase with two ramps, added in the 1800s, and the marble plaques affixed to the facade, which testify to the stops and passages for illustrious guests at this villa, among whom stands out Queen Christina of Sweden, who stopped here in the 1600s.
Inside, we are immediately welcomed by the splendid council hall, with coffered ceiling, wooden beams and some stuccoes and columns. In the center of the floor, we admire a large marble representation of the Ficarolo coat of arms. Other rooms of the noble floor and basement host appreciable chambers, stuccoes, and some grotesque paintings.
All around, the building is surrounded by a large park of romantic and landscaping design: the monumental centuries-old trees, placed without an apparent order, are actually the result of a precise study, which follows the free growth of nature and the passage of the seasons. The garden in the past had much larger dimensions, reaching to the Po and going beyond the surrounding bypass. It was equipped with a huge stable, destroyed in the 1970s to make way for the modern building of the middle schools. Where the functional sports area now stands, with a five-a-side football field, basketball and volleyball courts, and a skating rink, was the Cattle Market, where livestock was traded.
Currently, Villa Giglioli and the Park host a full calendar of events throughout the year.
