Exterior view

Palladio’s most influential building for the history of domestic architecture is the Villa Rotonda, sited on a low hill near Vicenza. It was built for the church dignitary and humanist Paolo Almerico as a suburban retreat.

The architectural elements of the villa were borrowed from sacral architecture. Its geometric shape was planned according to precise mathematical proportions. It is not just the four identical temple fronts, in the style of classical podium temples and placed against each of the four sides of the square building, that are sacral elements; the very shape of a residence as a centrally-planned building with a rotunda and dome derives from ideal notions of church architecture. Finally, the entire building, including the porticos, is in the shape of a Greek cross.

The pronounced sacral motif of the Rotunda is surely connected to its function as the status symbol of a rich cleric.

View the ground plan of the Villa Rotonda.