Palazzo Chiericati
Last updated on September 7, 2026Overview
Palazzo Chiericati is Palladio's most unusual town palace and now houses Vicenza's civic art museum, the Museo Civico. Built from 1550 facing what was then the city's timber market, it has a two-storey open colonnade across its whole front -- a country-villa gesture applied to an urban palace, and unlike anything else in the city.
Quick Facts
- Type: Palace, Museum
- Local name: Palazzo Chiericati (vedi la pagina italiana)
- Built: 1550-1680
- Built for: Girolamo Chiericati
- Designed by: Andrea Palladio
- Architectural style: Renaissance
- An open double loggia: Almost every Renaissance town palace presents a flat wall to the street; this one opens two full storeys of colonnade instead.
- Built on public ground: Chiericati negotiated rights over the square in front, which is the only reason the facade could be set back behind an open loggia.
- UNESCO World Heritage Site: Yes
Visit Responsibly
The Card Musei spreads a visitor's money across Vicenza's municipal museums, several of which receive a fraction of the Teatro Olimpico's visitors while carrying the same maintenance costs.
Standard museum rules apply: no flash, and bags to the cloakroom. The building was bomb-damaged and restored, and the frescoed rooms remain the fragile part.
Plan Your Visit
Ticketed as the Museo Civico, and included in the civic Card Musei together with the Teatro Olimpico -- the card is the sensible purchase since the two are a minute apart. Museum hours, closed Mondays outside high season.
Ten minutes' walk from Vicenza railway station along the Corso. Allow an hour and a half for the collection, more if the temporary exhibition interests you.