Original subtitles

(wind howls)

(upbeat adventurous music)

(celebratory adventurous music)

(inquisitive music)

- [Richard] Our journey begins in Northern Italy,

at Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet,

before heading east, past vineyards and castles,

to the cultural jewel of Padua.

From there, it's east along the Brenta Canal

to the Venetian Lagoon,

and Venice, one of the most famous cities in the world,

which has stood for over 1,500 years.

North of the city are the southern foothills of the Alps,

and a whole series of historic villas around Asolo.

Our journey ends at Vicenza,

the home of one of the greatest late-Renaissance architects,

whose buildings in the city

have influenced architecture around the world for centuries.

(triumphal horn music)

Verona, on the River Adige,

has a history stretching back to Roman times,

and in the center of the city is the amphitheater.

Also simply known as the Arena,

it's one of the biggest and best-preserved amphitheaters

from the time of the Roman Empire.

It was built in the 1st century A.D.

and held about 25,000 people,

who came here to watch gladiators often fight to the death.

The reason that the Arena is in such a good state of repair

is that back in the 16th century,

the people of Verona realized its importance,

and so decided to restore and preserve it.

Today, a more peaceful use has been found for the Arena,

as it is used each year for opera performances

during July and August.

The audience sits on long marble bench-type seats,

so a well-padded cushion is an essential extra,

especially when a long production is anticipated.

Almost everywhere you go in Verona

there is history to discover,

whether a church,

a bit of Roman architecture,

or one of the old gateways into the city.

And guarding the Ponte di Castel Vecchio

is the old castle itself.

Over the centuries,

this medieval fortress has witnessed several invasions,

and as a result it's been altered and changed,

including being modernized by Napoleon Bonaparte

when he captured the city in 1805.

In the Piazza della Erbe is the Torre Lamberti,

which stands at 83 meters.

Its construction began in 1172,

and at the top of the tower

are the old Rengo and Marangona bells, from the 15th century

which still ring out over the city.

The tower sits on the corner of the town hall,

and overlooks a thriving marketplace

for all sorts of goods and produce.

(triumphal horn music)

Almost as tall as the Lamberti Tower

is the campanile, or bell tower, of the Verona's cathedral.

This was begun in the 16th century,

and has taken over 400 years to finally complete.

(triumphal horn music)

The cathedral itself was begun in the year 1117,

and replaced several earlier churches

stretching back over 700 years.

On the north bank of the river

is the semi-circular Roman theater,

and the most important in Northern Italy.

It was built around the same time as the Arena.

Restoration began in the 19th century,

and today the theater is used in the summer months

for a season of Shakespeare plays,

particularly Romeo and Juliet,

who are said to have lived in the city.

With so much history and culture

packed into its ancient streets,

it's no wonder that Verona has become

such a popular place to visit.

To the west, and we enter a landscape of vines,

and a fortified town of Soave,

which has given its name to a dry white wine.

The 14th century castle, surrounded by vineyards,

overlooks the fortified town at the bottom of the hill.

Close by is the town of Lonigo,

with its ancient church and bell tower.

Its overlooked by an important and beautiful villa,

and one of many that we will see

on this journey across the Veneto region of Italy.

(calm strings music)

This is the Villa Rocca,

built for the rich Pisani family

in the early 16th century.

It was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi,

a pupil of one of the world's greatest architects,

Andrea Palladio, whose work we will see later on.

It's hard to believe, looking at this building,

that it was not designed in the 18th or 19th centuries.

This recreation of classical ideas

from designs of ancient Roman temples,

and then turned into houses, was revolutionary.

Even though the Villa Rocca was designed as a house,

it was not actually intended as a place to live,

but rather somewhere to visit in the summer

for a meal with friends,

and then idle away a sunny afternoon.

This elegant design has a portico recessed into the house,

creating a simple square shape.

A rare survival in the villa is the oculus,

a circular opening on the top which lets the hot air out,

so creating a cool draft

drawn through the large, glass-less windows.

This is an effective natural air conditioning device.

When it rains at the Villa Rocca,

the water falls down through a stone grille in the hall,

and is collected in a trough in the basement.

20 miles to the east is Padua,

said to be the oldest city in Northern Italy.

It's also one of Europe's

great cultural and artistic destinations.

(pastoral classical music)

Work by some of the Renaissance's best-known artist

still reside in the city's many churches,

including the great cathedral.

The Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua was begun around 1232,

just one year after the death of St. Anthony,

who died in the city.

The building has a mixture of styles

due to successive additions and rebuilding,

but the feel, with the domed roofs,

is of a Byzantine appearance.

Another surprising roof

is on the Palazzo della Ragione, Padua's town hall.

It's reputed to have

the largest roof unsupported by columns in Europe.

The initial building, begun in 1172, had three roofs.

100 years the later, the single roof was put up,

and it's still standing, over 700 years later.

The Prato della Valle

is one of the largest squares in Italy,

and was created in the late 18th century,

and is a much-loved place

for the people of Padua to meet and walk.

Running out of the city to the east is the Brenta Canal,

which connects Padua to the sea.

For part of its length, it's lined with large villas,

built by wealthy Venetian nobles

who wished to escape the heat and smell of Venice

during the summer.

(light classical music)

One of the grandest is the Villa Pisani,

built in the early 18th century.

The main front of the house was designed to impress,

and commands the site on a bend in the canal.

The style is Baroque, with all its architectural detail

of statues, pillars, and ornamentation.

Behind the house is a further site to impress visitors

in the form of a long canal

leading to another impressive Baroque building,

which actually just disguises a rather plain stable block.

Today, the Villa Pisani is a national museum,

and can be enjoyed by everyone.

The Brenta Canal leads to the Venetian Lagoon,

an inland sea protected by a thin strip of islands.

The central strip is called the Lido,

and became a popular holiday resort in the 19th century.

Each year, the Venice Film Festival

is held on this particular island.

But, seemingly floating in the middle of the lagoon

is one of the world's greatest attractions,

and one of the few cities

which can genuinely be called unique: Venice.

("Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel)

A 19th century Russian writer visiting Venice wrote,

"to build a city where it's impossible to build a city

"is madness in itself,

"but to build there

"one of the most elegant and grandest of cities

"is the madness of genius."

Venice began its life because,

as the Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century,

and the barbarian invaded,

people sought safety in the lagoon,

and began to build houses on wooden piles.

From then on, as Venice expanded,

every building was built on these wooden piles,

sunk into the mud of the lagoon.

For centuries,

the heart of social and political life in the city

was the Piazza San Marco.

It's where the Basilica of San Marco was built

in the ninth century, to house the body of St. Mark.

Overlooking the piazza

is St. Mark's Campanile, or bell tower.

It was built in 1514, but collapsed in 1902,

and then rebuilt in the same style.

In past times, the supreme authority in Venice was the doge,

and their palace was built at the end of the 14th century.

When later, as more prison space was needed,

a bridge connected the palace to the prison.

It was named the Bridge of Sighs,

as prisoners supposedly sighed

with their last view of the beautiful city.

In the summer months,

the city almost heaves with the number of visitors

who come to marvel at this extraordinary city in the sea.

("Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel)

Tourism has been a factor in the economy of Venice

since the 18th century,

due to its art and architecture.

In those days,

there were only a few thousand visitors a year.

Today, over 7 million people arrive by air

at the Marco Polo Airport, on the north side of the lagoon.

Some arrive by train,

which crosses the causeway to the station built in 1924,

and one of the few modern buildings in the city.

As there are no roads in Venice, only canals,

the only way of getting about, apart from walking,

is by boat,

people use water buses and water taxis,

ambulances, police vehicles, and fire engines are all boats,

every delivery throughout the city is made by boat.

At times, it seems like chaos,

but there are surprisingly few accidents.

Amongst all these boats

is the city's most famous one, the gondola,

and of course the gondolier.

Back in the 17th century there were around 10,000.

Today there are just over 400,

and each gondolier has to know Venetian history

and be able to handle a gondola

in the tight spaces of the canals.

The busiest thoroughfare in the city

is the S-shaped Grand Canal.

The shape probably follows the ancient river

that once flowed through the marshes.

Lining the banks of the four-kilometer canal

are over 170 buildings,

mostly dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries.

Most of these palazzos were built

to show off the owner's wealth and status,

and cost a small fortune to build.

Until the 19th century,

only the Rialto Bridge crossed the Grand Canal.

The present bridge was built in 1591,

and has two rows of shops on it.

It was predicted to fall down,

but has stood for over 400 years.

In the main districts of Venice,

there are over 100 churches,

many of them architectural masterpieces.

(triumphal choral music)

♪ Gloria ♪

♪ Gloria ♪

- [Richard] One of the most important

is the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore,

on a small island opposite St. Mark's.

There has been a church here since the 10th century,

but in 1565, Andrea Palladio,

an architect we will hear much more of

later in this journey,

replaced the old Gothic church

with this striking classical design.

The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the Pope.

The bell tower fell down in 1774,

and was rebuilt in a similar style

to the one in the Piazza San Marco.

From the top are wonderful views over the city.

As Venice became richer and more powerful,

it needed ships to trade,

and warships to protect them

as the city inevitably attracted enemies.

The Venetian Arsenal certainly existed

in the early 13th century,

and may well have been around much earlier.

Up until the late 18th century,

this was the largest industrial complex in Europe,

building ships in an almost assembly-line process,

unique for its times.

(militaristic drum music)

By 1450, over 3,000 Venetian ships were in operation,

both as supply vessels, as well as warships.

This massive fleet led to Venice becoming

the greatest commercial power

the European world had yet seen.

This power ended when the city, and its surrounding islands,

were conquered by Napoleon in 1797.

It was only in 1866 that the city finally became

part of the newly-created Kingdom of Italy.

40 miles north of Venice

are the southern foothills of the Alps,

and in this hilly landscape

are a number of beautiful villas

from the 16th to 18th centuries.

A few were designed by Andrea Palladio,

and have since become

some of the most important historic houses

not only in Italy, but worldwide.

One of Palladio's best works is the Villa Emo, at Fanzolo.

His brilliance was his use of mathematical proportions,

and his simplicity of style.

(pastoral strings music)

The villa was designed for the Emo family as a working farm,

and Palladio created the two wings for agricultural use,

with access under a colonnade,

for cover from the sun, as well as the rain.

It's hard to believe,

looking at the clean lines of this classical building,

that it was completed, as we see it today, in 1565.

This was an age when most of Western Europe

was still building wood-beamed houses and fortified manors.

The impact that Palladio's houses had

on visiting architects was enormous.

From the 18th century to today

they have come from across Europe,

and as far afield as the United States.

The Villa Emo is now a world heritage site.

Another of Palladio's houses

is seven miles other the north, at Maser.

It's also a world heritage site.

This is the Villa Barbaro,

which is also known as the Villa di Maser.

It was completed in 1558,

a few years before Palladio began work on the Villa Emo.

Here, the central section was inspired by

an ancient temple in Rome,

and adapted for domestic use, which was Palladio's genius.

The main block is then flanked by two wings,

which have two floors,

but fronted by an open colonnade.

As at the Villa Emo,

the lower rooms were for estate business,

and the upper rooms were private living quarters.

At the rear of the house

is a spring-fed grotto, or nympheum.

Palladio did not really involve himself in garden design,

and this pretty addition

was probably the conception of the Barbaro family.

This masterpiece of late-Renaissance architecture

is open to the public all year round.

One of the greatest Neoclassical sculptors

of the 19th century was Antonio Canova,

who was born in Possagno,

at the foothills of the Alps.

Towards the end of his life he returned to his birthplace,

and in 1819, began to build this Neoclassical temple

as a Christian church

(somber choral music)

His inspiration came from the Pantheon in Rome,

which started life as a pagan temple,

but then became an early Christian church.

The portico was inspired by

the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.

In this way, Canova exalted the art

of three great civilizations,

Christian art, Roman art, and Greek art.

Little did he know when he started work on the temple

that he was actually building his own mausoleum,

as he died in 1822.

His body was interred inside as the building work continued

on this striking Neoclassical temple,

which was finally finished in 1830.

Close to Vicenza, our final destination,

is the 17th century villa, Valmarana ai Nani,

and a very sad legend.

The ai Nani means, the dwarves, and the story goes

that a princess who lived in the villa was a dwarf,

and her parents, thinking it would be kind,

employed dwarves as her servants and companions,

and kept her away from the world outside.

(melancholy music)

One day, a prince appeared in the garden,

and the princess suddenly realized how small she was,

and threw herself off the roof.

Her servants were so distraught with her death,

that they became literally petrified with grief,

and now stand guard on the villa's walls.

(somber choral music)

Also close to Vicenza is this unusual walkway,

to a church on top of the hill,

the Portico del Monte Berico.

It was built in the 18th century, and is 700 meters long,

with 150 arches grouped in sections.

It not only kept worshipers dry,

but the arches symbolize the 150 Hail Marys in the rosary.

In an almost modern marketing deal,

each arch was sponsored,

and bears the name of an individual or organization.

On the top of the hill

is the Basilica di Santa Maria di Monte Berico.

This 18th century church replaced a predecessor

built three centuries earlier.

It was claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared

on this hill in 1426,

and promised that if the people of Vicenza built a church,

she would rid them of the plague.

A church was constructed within three months.

For centuries Vicenza has been known as the mainland Venice,

so great is its artistic and architectural heritage.

It is perhaps better known today as the city of Palladio.

(calm classical music)

It was here, in Vicenza,

that Andrea Palladio lived and worked

in the early 16th century,

and 23 of his buildings still survive in the city.

The work that got him noticed

was the colonnaded outer shell of the old Gothic town hall.

It shows one of the first examples

of what was to become known as the Palladian window,

a classical reinterpretation of Roman designs.

Next to the renamed Basilica Palladiana

is a statue of the great architect.

His buildings can be found in most of the streets.

Some stand out, like the Palazzo del Capitaniato,

built for the city's military leader in 1571,

and others, such as the Palazzo Thiene,

built in 1542 around a colonnaded courtyard,

almost hidden from view.

Another of his influential buildings

is the Palazzo Chiericati.

Nothing like this had been seen at the time

when construction began in the 1550s.

Looking at the building today,

it's possible to see many other buildings around the world

which have been inspired by this palazzo.

However, there is one building of Palladio's

which has perhaps been more influential than any other.

From a modest entrance of a quiet lane,

a straight drive leads to the Villa Almerico Capra,

better known as the Villa Rotonda.

(triumphal Baroque music)

This house has probably inspired

a thousand subsequent buildings,

but Palladio's inspiration came from the Pantheon in Rome.

He adapted the design to include four porticoes,

because, in his words,

one takes pleasure in the beautiful view on all four sides.

The building is square,

with a circular central hall open to all four sides.

(triumphal Baroque music)

Building began in 1567,

however Palladio and the owner, Paolo Almerico,

were not to see the finished villa,

as both died before its completion.

His assistant of many years, Vincenzo Scamozzi,

oversaw the villa's completion,

including the dome, with its open oculus,

but now covered with a cupola from a later century.

Palladio's vision of a classical past

adapted to domestic living

has been perfected in this building.

He is now considered

one of the world's greatest ever architects,

and his houses, particularly the Villa Rotonda,

have been a source of inspiration for architects ever since,

a perfect place to end this journey.

(relaxing classical music)

(logo whooshes)