Vicenza

Vicenza is the capital of its province, and is situated at the northern base of the Monti Berici, straddling the Bacchiglione, approximately 60 km west of Venice and 200 km east of Milan. The city has an active and lively industrial sector, which is especially famous for jewelry and clothing factories. The Gold Exposition is world-famous and takes place in Vicenza three times per year (January, June, September). The late Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1518-1580) was a native of Vicenza, where several buildings of Palladio can still be seen. For its cultural and historical prominence, it is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Vicenza an ancient Roman municipium with the name of "Vicetia" but in Roman times was overshadowed by its neighbor Patavium (Padua)and in medieval times by Venice In the 5th century, first Alaric then Attila laid it waste, and later Vicenza became the seat of one of the dozens of Lombard dukes, then in the 8th century of a Frankish count. The independent commune with an oligarchic republican political structure was conquered in 1311 by the Scaligeri lords of Verona, who fortified it against the Visconti of Milan. Vicenza gave itself to the protection of Venice in 1405.