FIESSO D’ARTICO
This town on the Brenta Rivera, today famous for shoe making, was also affected by the area’s historical events. It owes its name to the bend – flexum – that the Brenta-Medoacus river made here, and the area was subject to frequent flooding, until the head of the water board, G.M. Artico, solved the problem by suggesting works on the river. It was known from the Middle Ages and came under various dominions, particularly that of Padua, until it was conquered by the Venetians in 1404. They built villas on the left and right banks of the canal, many of which are well preserved. These include the Renaissance Villa Soranzo, which still has traces of the exterior frescoes, the 18th-century Villa Barbarigo, Villa Recanati Zucconi and Villa Contarini S.Basegio (with an oratory decorated by Tiepolo), Villa Smania and Villa Grimaldi.
Worth Visiting
Villa Recanati-Zucconi built in the first half of the 18th century
Villa Soranzo, a typical 16th century Veneto building
Villa Barbarigo-Fontana an 18th-century remodelling of an earlier 16th-century home
Villa Corner-Vendramin, with its main 18th-century building, a 17th-century outbuilding, a well in the garden and a small park
Villa Contarini di S. Basegio 17th-18th century
Villa Contarini-Besenzon built on a 16th-century three-storey square building, with an entrance porch and an 18th-century annex with a rustic portico
The 18th century Palazzo Granelli-Prando
Villa Smania-Belvedere, currently a hotel
Villa Gennari-Lion, from the 17th century
