Villa Emo

Villa Emo stands at Fanzolo, in the flat country west of Treviso, and it is the clearest surviving demonstration of what a Palladian villa was actually for.

Designed by Palladio around 1559 for Leonardo Emo, it is a working farm. The central block with its pedimented portico is flanked by two long arcaded barchesse -- barns -- ending in dovecote towers, and the whole thing is a single symmetrical composition several hundred metres wide.

The giveaway is at the front. Instead of steps, there is a ramp, so that carts could be driven up to the threshing floor. The grandest element of the facade exists because of grain.

Inside, Zelotti frescoed nearly every room.

The Zelotti frescoes are a nearly complete sixteenth-century scheme in a building without museum conditions. No flash, no touching, and follow the photography rules given.

The villa is a privately managed UNESCO property that also earns from events. Booking, and going when it is genuinely open rather than pressing for access, is the reasonable approach.

The surrounding land is working farmland. Keep to the villa's own grounds.

Combining it with Maser in one trip reduces driving across a plain where there is no useful public transport.

The villa charges admission and opens on a limited schedule -- generally weekends and by arrangement, with reduced winter hours. It also hosts events, which can close it to visitors.

Check before travelling. This is not a daily-opening museum.

It is at Fanzolo di Vedelago, about 30 minutes by car from Treviso and 25 from Castelfranco. Public transport is not practical.

Allow an hour.

The ramp means the main floor is reachable without steps, which is unusual in a building of this date -- accessibility is better here than at most Palladian villas.

It combines naturally with Villa Barbaro at Maser, about 20 minutes north, for a day of Palladian villas.