The Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, also known as “La Rotonda,” on the outskirts of Vicenza, Italy, was designed by the internationally influential Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and completed toward the end of the 16th century.
Most other villas in the region were farming homesteads. La Rotonda, however, was built for Paolo Almerico, a nobleman and retired clergyman, and it offered a spiritual refuge in a rural setting embodying the Renaissance humanist belief that each individual is composed of mind, body, and spirit.
Palladio created an innovative design that favored an imposing hilltop. He employed the simple geometry of a square plan for the main body of the house, to symbolize the physical realm and the human body. He then designed a circle for the central hall, symbolizing the soul and the divine, and completed it with a dome and a cupola above to illuminate the interior and connect the home with the heavens. Surrounding the central hall are four salons serving as the main living areas of the house.
Palladio took the design of a Roman temple consisting of a portico formed by columns and a triangular pediment, and then, in a unique way, placed it on the four sides of the building. Each side offers places to enjoy panoramic views of the countryside. When seen from the surrounding countryside, the villa plays the role of a church or temple centrally positioned in the landscape.
La Rotonda sits in perfect harmony with its surroundings, showing how mind, body, and spirit work as one: Renaissance ideals, a beautiful structure filled with frescoes and sculptures, and openings that allow in light from the heavens.