VILLA WIDMANN

Villa Sceriman, Foscari Widmann-Rezzonico is located in the municipality of Mira along the Riviera del Brenta at a site known as  “La Riscossa”.

The Province of Venice is the current owner of this spectacular villa which houses exhibitions as well as cultural and social events.

The complex consists of the main mansion with garden and the contiguous court, the country house, the little church, the huge park extending to the north with the greenhouse construction, embellished with 18th century statues , numerous different species of trees and birds and a little lake.

HISTORICAL NOTES

The construction of the villa seems to be attributed to the Venetian architect Andrea Tirali, who built it in 1719 for the Sceriman family, a noble Venetian family of Persian origins. By the middle of the 18th century, the property was bought by the Widmann family who provided to restyle the main building according to the French rococo taste.

The Villa in fact appeared not to be comfortable enough for the many guests it used to host, but since the overall dimensions of the central structure could be enlarged (the main hall used to be as large as the villa façade or the principal portico and as wide as the total length of the building), it was decided to work on the its height, eliminating the roof and building a circular banister all along the ballroom. The orchestra used to be positioned at the corners.

In 1883 the villa was bought by Francesco Somazzi, but soon it returned to the Widmann family in 1901, thanks to the descendant Elisabetta. During World War II, like many other villas of the Riviera, it became a hospital.

In 1970 Elisabetta’s son sold it to commander Settimo Costanzo. Today, like in the 18th century, when it was destined to multiple purposes, from agricultural to recreational ones, Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari re-interprets its versatile structure.

The architectural complex of Villa Widmann, after the recent restoration of its Guesthouse, is now provided with an auditorium for meeting, conventions and cultural activities as well as two wide rooms to house art exhibitions and events.

THE ARCHITECTURE

The entrance hall, with its slight leaning-out look, supported by four columns, opens like a loggia at the end of a short staircase from the interesting design.

A curbed wrought iron tympanum with upper acroterions showing the family coat of arms is placed in correspondence to the loggia at the attic floor.

The windows at the ground floor have a rectangular shape with simple windowsills and leaning-out surmounting lintels; those at the upper floors are bigger and have little balconies with wrought iron parapets. The undersills have been decorated with marmorino.

The boathouse, with its airy portico facing the villa, develops around an internal paved courtyard: the eastern wing housed the stables and the barn, while the south-western one housed the servants’ lodges and the guesthouse. The little church where Elisabetta and Arianna Widmann are buried is situated on the eastern side of the rustic building. Passing through the large hall of the main building you reach the Ballroom, which develops on a double height. Here the visitor can admire the wrought iron landing with golden elements, opening to the staircase and the secondary rooms. Walls and ceilings are richly decorated with mythological scenes, rococo volutes, polychrome strips and frames by the painters Giuseppe Angeli and Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna. The visitor can also admire the plasters, the original pavements and the furniture. Among the many illustrious guests the villa gave hospitality to Pope Clemente XIII, Pio X, the writer Carlo Goldoni, Casanova and Gabriele D'Annunzio (the covering of the gondola he used is still on display in one of the rooms).

Also the musicians Gian Francesco Malipiero and Igor Strawinsky stayed at Villa Widmann.

THE GARDEN

The richly planted park extends to the north of the property, where many statues have been placed to embellish it.

Beautiful lime trees have been planted along the pathways.

On the right, beyond the house there’s a wide area bordered by the low greenhouse construction, where the visitor can admire the peacocks and other species of birds. The boathouse houses a beautiful collection of carriages.

HOW TO REACH VILLA WIDMANN

Via Nazionale 420 – Mira – Go to the map >>