The Heavenly Design of Italy’s Villa La Rotonda

In this installment of “Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,” we visit a classic villa designed by Andrea Palladio.

The entrance of the grand Renaissance villa resembles that of a Roman temple. Six tall Ionic columns, a triangular pediment, and elongated portico window openings accentuate the vertical thrust of the villa and give the composition a bold presence. J.H. Smith

The Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, also known as “La Rotonda,” on the outskirts of Vicenza, Italy, was designed by the internationally influential Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and completed toward the end of the 16th century.

Most other villas in the region were farming homesteads. La Rotonda, however, was built for Paolo Almerico, a nobleman and retired clergyman, and it offered a spiritual refuge in a rural setting embodying the Renaissance humanist belief that each individual is composed of mind, body, and spirit.