| Villa Toderini was
built in the 18th century by architect Frigimelica and belonged
to Counts Toderini-De Gajardis, Venetian gentry family. In 1845
it was inherited by the nobles Antonio and Ferdinando Ferracini
and later by Teresa Ton-Bonicelli Jelmoni.
The impressive building has a tall frontage upon its central body
and two smaller ones at the end of both wings.
Ten half-columns on the ground floor and as many pilaster strips
on the upper floors mark the main façade, where a balcony
with three-light windows on the first floor and another one above,
between two rectangular windows, open onto the park.
Elegant stucco-works over and under the windows, enclosed in pilaster
strips, decorate the entire façade.
The stone coat of arms of the Toderini-De Gajardis family, with
a crown, hangs in the middle underneath the tympanum.
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At the main body’s
sides, the complex continues on two levels. At the ground floor
there are three depressed arches on each wing, outlined by ashlars,
with masks on their keystones. Each of the two ends, with small
frontages, has an arch door and four pilaster strips rising from
the basement to the roof.
In front of the Villa a well-tended lawn is encircled by two bushes
at right angles and a fishpond towards the path, bordered by a
balustrade and pilasters. Two annexes (barchessa) and a quaint
little church rebuilt in 1780, adorned with baroque windows and
ornaments, enlarge the complex, which was damaged several times
during the World Wars. Opposite Villa Toderini, across the fishpond
and the path, there are two pilasters with nice statues and a
slight rise with unique bushes. Amphorae and other vases are on
top of the remaining pilasters and around the fishpond.
Villa Toderini received the visit of poet Ugo Foscolo (Zante/Venice
1778- London 1827), who wrote two odes dedicated to Marietta Toderini,
when she took the veil.
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