Meetings, conventions, gala dinners, concerts and weddings for up to 200 guests are held at Villa Valmarana ai Nani, a hillside villa frescoed by Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo, a few minutes from the center of Vicenza in the Veneto. Organisers can book the whole complex or only part of it: the Palazzina, the Foresteria guest house, the gardens or the woods.
Seminars and company events
The villa hosts business meetings, conventions and gala dinners in its frescoed rooms. The Sala Centrale of the Palazzina, painted by the Tiepolo, takes up to 75 people. The Salone Centrale of the Foresteria seats up to 120 guests for a served dinner, or up to 200 when the side rooms are added. Gala dinners and concerts usually take place in the Foresteria. A visit of the frescoed rooms, the park and the reopened woods can be built into the program, and the Palazzina offers digital visit experiences for groups.
Weddings and receptions
Thanks to an agreement with the City of Vicenza, civil ceremonies are held at the villa, so the ceremony and the reception can take place in one location. Outdoor ceremonies use the gardens, terraces or woods, and indoor ones the salons of the Palazzina or the Foresteria. The team helps plan a custom menu, and couples can ask for music and dancing.
Rooms and capacities
Sala Centrale (Palazzina): up to 75 people, frescoed by the Tiepolo. Salone Centrale (Foresteria): up to 120 seated and served, up to 200 with the side rooms. The Parco Monumentale, the terraces and the woods are available for ceremonies and receptions outdoors; the site gives no capacity for them.
Accommodation
Two stays are offered in the Foresteria. The Stanza delle Cineserie is a room with an en-suite bathroom and a sitting room, under frescoes by Giandomenico Tiepolo; because it opens to visitors in the morning, guests leave it by 10 a.m. but keep the bathroom for the day. Appartamento Nani 2, in the restored former granary, has three bedrooms for 7 people, two bathrooms and an open-plan living room with kitchen. Larger groups stay in Vicenza hotels.
History and setting
Giustino Valmarana commissioned the frescoes in 1757 from Giambattista Tiepolo and his son Giandomenico, who decorated both the Palazzina and the Foresteria. Seventeen stone dwarfs stand on the boundary wall and give the villa its name; they were probably carved by Francesco Uliaco to a design by Giambattista Tiepolo and are tied to the legend of Princess Layana. A pagoda in the woods dates from the late 18th century. The villa overlooks the Valletta del Silenzio at the foot of the Berici hills, and paths through the woods lead toward Palladio's villa next door. The villa is a partner of FAI, Dimore Storiche Italiane and the Touring Club Italiano.
Getting there
The villa is at Via dei Nani 8, 36100 Vicenza, a few minutes from the city center. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, visitors can walk through the woods from the parking area at Via della Rotonda 34 to the Foresteria and the Palazzina. Vicenza station is the nearest railway station.
