Church of Santa Maria Nuova

The Church of Santa Maria Nuova was designed, according to the art historians, by Andrea Palladio in 1578 or just a few years earlier. However it was only built after the death of the architect, between 1585 and 1589. In 1579 a piece of land was bought in front of the Convento delle Dimesse (today a Police Training School), probably with an eye to starting building work, and the architect, according to some historians, may have been Domenico Groppino, one of Palladio's brighter pupils. The facade has a tympanum resting on four Corinthian half-columns. The rich array of paintings that the building initially contained is now in the Pinacoteca Civica of Palazzo Chiericati. This church is the only religious building, with the exception of the little Valmarana chapel, that Palladio designed and built in Vicenza. Palladio's large church complexes were built on the lagoon (for instance the Church of San Giorgio on the island of the same name, and the Church of the Redentore and the Zitelle on the island of Giudecca), excluding however the Vicenza church and the little chapel annexed to Villa Barbaro Luling-Buschetti at Maser.
UNESCO Monument

Source: taken from "Vicenza, City of Palladio", Vicenza City Council, Cultural and Tourist Council Department
Text approved by the Arts Office of the Diocese of Vicenza

Address: contrà Santa Maria Nuova

Building not used for worship

Visiting only external