Villa Valmarana ai Nani

Villa Valmarana ai Nani is a modest eighteenth-century house on the hill below La Rotonda, and it holds one of the great fresco cycles in Europe. In 1757 Giambattista Tiepolo painted the main villa with scenes from Homer, Virgil, Ariosto and Tasso, while his son Giandomenico painted the guest wing with peasants, carnival scenes and Chinese fantasies -- the two of them, father and formal, son and earthbound, working within metres of each other.

The frescoes are on plaster in rooms with no full climate control, and the visitor rules -- no flash, no touching, limited group sizes -- are what has kept them legible for 270 years.

It is a private house maintained by the family that owns it; ticket income is the maintenance budget, and there is no state museum behind it.

Walking or taking the bus up rather than driving matters here: the lane to the villa is narrow, residential and not built for visitor traffic.

Privately owned and ticketed, with a seasonal calendar -- generally open March to early November, with reduced winter access. Both buildings are covered by one ticket and the gardens are included.

Photography inside is restricted to protect the frescoes. Allow an hour and a half; the rooms are small and reward standing still in them.

Combining it with La Rotonda in one afternoon works well, but check both calendars -- their opening days do not always coincide.

The frescoed rooms are lit largely by daylight through small windows, so a bright day genuinely improves the visit and a dark winter afternoon genuinely diminishes it.

Spring and early autumn are best overall: the gardens are open, the walk up from the city is pleasant, and the full opening season is running.