Villa La Rotonda (formally Villa Almerico-Capra) sits on a gentle hill two kilometres south of Vicenza's centre and is among the most imitated buildings in the history of architecture. Palladio designed it in 1566 as a kind of ideal machine for experiencing landscape: a central circular hall beneath a dome, approached from all four compass points by identical temple-front porticoes with grand staircases.
The result is a building that looks the same from every angle and catches the light differently at every hour. The interior frescoes by Alessandro Maganza are excellent and largely overlooked beside the famous exterior. The grounds are always open; the interior is accessible only on certain days — check before visiting. The walk up from Vicenza's outskirts takes about 30 minutes and passes other Palladian villas along the Riviera Berica.