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The real starting point of the Brenta Naviglio, into which water flows here after various works by the Venetians. Town life was linked to the waterway, to river navigation, and even today it is still the starting point for spectacular events that take place in the various towns, from the ‘Riviera Fiorita’ flower festival to the Venice Marathon.
Here, after Villa Foscarini Rossi and the Giantin Chapel, we come to the grandiose, 18th-century Villa Pisani, a national museum that can be visited daily, which welcomed the most illustrious guests in its regal rooms (also painted by Tiepolo) and in its gardens with labyrinths, exedras and pools of water. As well as Villa Pisani, you can also visit Villa Foscarini Rossi (with its shoe museum, in honour of the area’s most important activity).
There are similar historic homes on the other side of the Naviglio, in S. Pietro, and in the hamlet of Fossolovara.
Worth Visiting
Villa Pisani, also known as the ‘Nazionale’, is one of the most famous examples of a Veneto villa on the Brenta Riviera overlooking the Brenta Naviglio. It is now home to a national museum containing works of art and furnishings from the 18th and 19th centuries. The villa has 168 rooms and covers an area of 15,000 square metres.
Villa Foscarini located on the left bank of the Brenta River in Fossolovara, built between 1617 and 1635
Museo Rossimoda, a shoe museum in the main building of the 17th-century architectural complex of Villa Foscarini Rossi. The museum focuses on footwear and costume history and houses a collection of over 1,700 models of luxury women’s shoes, produced by the shoe factory of the same name in collaboration with fashion houses.