Villa Gualdo
Villa Gualdo was built in 1637 according to a design by Count Giuseppe Gualdo, high priest of Montegalda, who had a passion for architecture.
The Villa is built in a Palladian style. It has a central, four-storey body and, and on the sides, two symmetrical colonnades that were once used as guest quarters and stables. In the basement, which already existed before 1637, there were cellars. While the raised floor is characterized by an eight-column atrium. In the atrium, you can see an ancient 14th-century marble basin attributed to the workshop of Pedemuro, master sculptors of the Palladian school.
The first floor now houses a permanent exhibition on the life and works of the Vicenza writer Antonio Fogazzaro. The same floor also contains the City Council Hall which houses two interesting paintings on canvas depicting scenes of rural life in Coromaldi and floating mills on the Bacchiglione del Tarro river. In the 18th century, Villa Gualdo became the property of the noble Venetian Vendramin Calergi family.
Next to the colonnade on the east side, there is the chapel of the Villa built in the early 19th century for the marriage of Elena Vendramin Calergi with Count Andrea Valmarana, at the time the mayor of Vicenza. Today, the Valmarana chapel is dedicated to the fallen heroes of all wars.
The Villa overlooks the present Piazza Marconi, which has been home to the traditional Monday market since 1692.
On 17 May 1909, the town of Montegalda purchased Villa Gualdo and the surrounding fields for the town hall.
