Veneto - Culture

Once home to Gladiators and unspeakable battles for sport, today very little survives to remind us that Northern Italy was once one of the most affluent and sophisticated areas of the entire Roman Empire. A few of the largest structures have kept their original elegance while some have faded to ruin.

The ancient arena at Verona is still in use, although the old gladiatorial contests have been replaced now by popular opera performances. Venice was the birthplace of the opera. It was the centre for classical music. Venice built the world's first opera house and inspired great composers such as Bach, Handel, Wagner, and Britten. Opera may have emerged in 14th century Florence, but it was perfected in the late 1500s by Claudio Monteverdi in Mantua and Venice.

Venice serves as an undisputed treasure of the culture of Veneto and of its widespread artistic heritage. Wealth from agriculture, commerce, and the spoils of war paid for the beautification of the region through the building of Renaissance palaces. Many of the areas public buildings were designed by the Veneto's greatest architect, Andrea Palladio. No other architect in the Western World's history of art has ever had such an enormous influence as his. In 1538, Palladio began construction of Villa Godi, the first of a series of country villas and urban palaces designed for patrons among the provincial nobility of Vicenza. Later, his palaces were designed for the nobility of Venice as well. His palazzo and villas are symbols of the leisure and privilege once enjoyed by the area's sophisticated aristocrats. His Venetian art works can also be seen in three magnificent churches, S. Giorgio Maggiore, Il Redentore and Le Zitelle.       

Today, the Veneto region is a thriving wine exporter, a textile producer and a booming agricultural centre. Additionally, it is a popular tourist destination. With its rich Roman and Etruscan past, Verona is one of Venetos best known culture centres. The streets here are paved in marble and the atmosphere is pure sophistication. Also of great importance, the city of Verona is well known as the setting for Shakespeare's timeless love story, Romeo and Juliet. Don't miss the massive 1st century AD Arena, which is still the setting for major events, and the Piazza Erbe with its colourful market.

Another place to visit is Padua. It is an old university town with an illustrious academic history. Dante, Galileo, Copernicus, Mantegna, Giotto, and Donatello have contributed to Padua's reputation as a centre of learning. The university in this city was established in 1222. Padua ranks with Florence and Bologna as Italy's main centres of learning. The 13th and 14th centuries represented a prosperous period in Padua's progressive history, typified by the building of the basilicas and the expansion of the university.

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