Villa Barbaro at Maser
Last updated on September 16, 2026Overview
Villa Barbaro at Maser, seven kilometres east of Asolo, is the only surviving building where Andrea Palladio and Paolo Veronese worked together. Palladio built it in the late 1550s for the brothers Daniele and Marcantonio Barbaro; Veronese frescoed the entire interior. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and still a private house.
Daniele Barbaro was an architectural scholar in his own right — his 1556 edition of Vitruvius was illustrated by Palladio — so this is a house worked out with its patron rather than simply built for him. Marcantonio was a diplomat for the Republic.
Veronese's interior is the reason to come: illusionistic throughout, with painted doors that open onto nothing, figures stepping through doorways, and a huntsman returning from the fields. Behind the house a nymphaeum fed by a spring supplies the garden, and Palladio's last work — the round Tempietto — stands just below, at the roadside.
Quick Facts
- Type: Mansion, Historic Place
- Local name: Villa Barbaro a Maser (vedi la pagina italiana)
- Built: Late 1550s; frescoed c. 1560-61
- Built for: Daniele and Marcantonio Barbaro
- Designed by: Andrea Palladio
- Architectural style: Renaissance
- Palladio and Veronese, once only: The only surviving building where the two worked together. Why they never did so again is unknown.
- Client as collaborator: Daniele Barbaro translated Vitruvius, illustrated by Palladio and published in 1556 -- so architect and patron were writing about architecture while building this.
- UNESCO World Heritage Site: Yes
Visit Responsibly
The frescoes are sixteenth-century plaster in a house without full climate control, and the restricted days and capped numbers are precisely what has kept them in this condition. Those limits are not an inconvenience to be worked around.
It is a family home and a working estate, not a museum. Ticket income and the estate's wine are what maintain a UNESCO building privately.
Do not touch the walls, and follow the no-flash rule strictly.
Where it is
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Plan Your Visit
This is a private house with restricted opening days and limited numbers -- generally a few days a week and reduced in winter. Check the villa's own calendar and book before travelling; arriving unannounced is the most common wasted journey in the area.
A car is effectively necessary. Photography inside is restricted to protect the frescoes. Allow an hour and a half, including the nymphaeum and the small carriage museum.
When to Visit
The frescoed rooms depend on daylight, so a bright day makes a real difference. Spring and early autumn combine good light with the fullest opening calendar.
Winter openings are much reduced and the light is poor -- possible, but not the season to plan a trip around.