Villa Caldogno, also known as Caldogno Nordera, is a villa in the Řegion of Veneto, Italy, that some attribute to the architectural genius Andrea Palladio. With this Palladian creation, the villa does not appear in I, Palladio’s 1570 treatise, yet shares striking similarities with the Villa Saraceno, an alleged offspring from the 1540s and 1550s. The villa was built for the prestigious Caldogno family on their Caldogno estate near Vicenza, and it is believed that Angelo Caldogno owned the villa in 1570, although it might have been started by his father, Losco Caldogno, in the 1540s.
The villa underwent comprehensive modernization in the 1930s, during which the Nordera family expanded the villa to accommodate their institute – a hideaway behind the main villa and a chilly secret beside it that today serves as the villa’s ice room. During WWII, the German military infamously took over the villa, employing it as a military hospital. Today, the villa is open to the public, offering a peek at the amusing amalgamation of Palladian architecture and modernist adaptations.
Curiously, the villa is not extensively spotlighted in tourism guides and hardly graced by tourists, despite its rich history. It is essential to mention that the villa still belongs to the loving Nordera family.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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