Vicenza is essential for anyone interested in architecture. Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) moved here as a young man and used the city as his laboratory — his work here influenced everything from English country houses to the US Capitol. The main showcase is the Basilica Palladiana, but the Teatro Olimpico — the oldest surviving indoor theatre in the world, still with its original stage set — is equally extraordinary. Walking the city's streets is itself the experience; Palladian buildings appear around every corner, and Contra Porti alone concentrates more significant architecture per metre than most cities manage in an entire historic centre.
Villa La Rotonda, two kilometres south of centre, is the most imitated private building in history. Palazzo Chiericati houses the civic museum and is itself worth visiting for the architecture alone. The Loggia del Capitaniato and Torre Bissara anchor the main piazza. Parco Querini provides a green respite from marble and stone.
Beyond the Palladio story, Antonio Pigafetta, the Vicentine who sailed with Magellan and recorded the first circumnavigation, deserves recognition that the city gives him only modestly.