Vicenza is characterized by its private country side ‘character’, but it is also equally well known for goldsmiths and for the architecture of Andrea Palladio, whose works are almost intact in the city. Vicenza is an important destination for cultural tourism with visitors from all over Italy and abroad. The city is also a major industrial and economic center in Italy , the heart of a province dotted with small and medium-sized enterprises.The Piazza dei Signori is the heart of the city and, some very interesting works overlook the square Things to see:
- Piazza dei Signori \ of the Lords: beyond the coffees in the main square of Vicenza, do not miss the buildings of Palladio, whose designs of the sixteenth century shaped the architecture of his native city and of the whole world. The basilica has a double series of colonnaded porticoes, in front of the Loggia del Capitanaiato.
- Teatro Olimpico: designed by Palladio and completed by the pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi. The area of the stage is based on a Roman model, while the set is a reproduction of the city of Thebes. Statues in scale and levels of stage create skillful tricks of perspective.
- Palazzo Leoni Montanari: sumptuous baroque palace with decorations of carved twisted snakes. On the Loggia is portrayed Hercules killing the Hydra. The masterpieces include 120 impressive Russian icons and 14 paintings by Pietro Longhi with amazing scenes of Venetian life in the seventeenth century.