Corso Andrea Palladio Historical Timeline

Origins

The street follows the line of the Roman decumanus maximus, the main east-west axis of Vicetia. Its straightness is two thousand years old; everything on it is much younger.

Turning points

Through the sixteenth century Vicenza's nobility competed to build along it, and Palladio and his circle took most of the commissions. The result is an unusually concentrated run of Renaissance palace facades on a single street.

Influential people

Palazzo Thiene, Palazzo Da Schio and the unfinished Palazzo Porto stand on or just off the Corso, alongside work by Vincenzo Scamozzi and later Palladian imitators who kept the language going for two centuries.

Cultural evolution

The street has always been commercial as well as grand. Vicenza's goldsmiths have traded here since the middle ages, and the jewellers along it today are a continuation rather than a revival.

Present-day significance

Pedestrianised over most of its length, the Corso is where Vicenza takes its evening passeggiata, and forms the spine of the city's UNESCO World Heritage area.