Palladian villas of the Veneto

The Palladian villas of the Veneto are villas designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, all of whose buildings were erected in the Veneto, the mainland region of north-eastern Italy then under the political control of the Venetian Republic. Most villas are listed by UNESCO as part of a World Heritage Site named City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto.

The term villa was used to describe a country house. Often rich families in the Veneto also had a house in town called palazzo. In most cases the owners named their palazzi and ville with the family surname, hence there is both a Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza and a Villa Chiericati in the countryside, similarly there is a Ca' Foscari in Venice and a Villa Foscari in the countryside. Somewhat confusingly, there are multiple Villa Pisani, including two by Palladio.

UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List in 1994.^[1] At first the site was called "Vicenza, City of Palladio" and only buildings in the immediate area of Vicenza were included. Various types of buildings were represented in the original site, which included the Teatro Olimpico, some palazzi and a few villas. Because most of Palladio's surviving villas lay outside the site, in 1996 the site was expanded, hence the newer name "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". This name reflects the fact that it includes villas designed by Palladio throughout the Veneto.