Andrea Palladio Palaces

Andrea Palladio is the most influential Italian architect in history, the founder of Palladianism and classicism of the late Renaissance. In 1545 he won a competition for the right to restore the city hall of the XIII century. It is here that he for the first time creates a new system of proportions, which makes the structure clear, simple and harmoniously organized.

The architect created a new type of city palace - palazzo. The early works of the architect are the Palazzo Vicenza (1550-1551) and the Palazzo Chiericati, which are quite close to the Florentine castles of the XV century. They combine the features of a public building and a small palace. The facades of the buildings are decorated with open columned two-tier loggias. Inside them there are beautiful enfilades of halls with central large rooms on the second floor. Thanks to these deep loggias, the facade becomes more voluminous and takes on a rational appearance.

But the most famous Palladio palace building, which is decorated with a colonnade of a large composite order, is the unfinished Loggia del Capitanho (1571-1572), located opposite the Basilica in Piazza del Signoria in Vicenza.