Vicenza, located in the region of Veneto in the north-east of Italy, was founded in the second century BC, but it wasn’t until many centuries later, when it fell under Venetian rule, that it began to prosper, turning into an important city from the 15th to the 18th century.

The golden age of Vicenza began in 1540, when the Venetian aristocracy reorganized the city and its surrounding countryside, and Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, known as Palladio (1508–80), one of the greatest architects of the time, was commissioned to design the new residences of the Venetian nobles. Thus, Vicenza was embellished with beautiful private and public buildings and extraordinary villas were built in the countryside.