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The progressive conquest of the hinterland happened between 1300 and 1400,
on behalf of the Serenissima, carried to an increased interest among the Venetian nobles
towards the real estate and agriculture activity. The huge capitals accumulated
during the golden centuries through the sea trading with the East, were favorablly invested in the
practice of reclamation and agriculture. Extended territories of Veneto and Friuli, at
time swampy and unhealthy, were cleared and made fertile. Particular care were turned to the regulation
of waters and rivers. The Republic of Venice began already in the middle of the XV century
to administer with attention the navigation channels, that formed an efficient net of communication
used by trades. To this end they created appropriate "Magistracies": the Magistracy of Waters
and Uncultivated Assets. For centuries the emblema of this agricultural world was the Villa:
a specific typology of building harmoniously inserted in the countryside, that answered fully to
two precise requirements: the will to celebrate and to represent the prestige of the noble owners
and that of management and conduction of the intense agricultural activities. The Villa was therefore
the center of a great and efficient agricultural company and at the same time a place of amuse and rest
for the aristocrats. Far away from the phrenetic life of the city and its breathlessnesses,
the noble owner could lead, above all in the warmer summer months, a calm period of
holiday in direct contact with nature; dedicating itself with tranquillity
to reading, listening of music or to convivial encounters. Thus the Veneto Villa became a kind of aristocratic
residence that has had a great development between the XV and XVIII century.
During this amount of time up to more than
four thousand and five hundred dwellings were built in the countryside, still today very well
conserved and protected. In the Reinassance, the construction of these buildings had a great impulse
thanks to the originality and genius of Palladio. The ideas of the architect from Vicenza of the inhabited
models and the innovative constructive solutions were resumed and rielaborated
later on from numerous architects, also foreign, of classic inspiration.
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