Villa Badoer Fattoretto at Dolo (VE)

 
 

Dolo (VE), 6 m/20 feet above sea level, Via Ettore Tito 2; train station at Dolo on the Padova-Venezia line about 6 km/4 miles to the north, or Casello 11 on the Venezia-Adria line about 3 km/2 miles to the south. The villa is situated along the Riviera del Brenta bike route, on the southern bank.


The land on which this villa was built as far back as the fourteenth century had been property of the Badoer family, one of the twelve apostolic families(*). The existence of a weekend house can be traced back to the sixteenth century, whereas an eighteenth century print shows a villa identical to the existing one, but with two long barchesse, which subsequently were demolished.


The villa faces the Brenta Canal, from which it is now separated by Via Tito; it has a very simple square facade of three stories, with a balcony in the middle, and an entrance that now consists of three arched door/windows; behind the villa are extensive grounds.


The villa remained the property of the Badoer family until 1846 when it was sold to one Giacinto Foratti; during the nineteenth century it went through various other owners until 1903 when it was sold to Baron de Chantal who remained its owner until the middle of the twentieth century.

 

During the second world war it was used first as a German army hospital, then as a storehouse by the English army. In 1945 it was acquired by Ulderico Fattoretto, a producer and seller of wine, who made the villa the headquarters of his winery.

Today the villa is the property and home of Luigi Fattoretto, the son of Ulderico, and it is still the headquarters of the winery, but also on the property is the “Museo del Villano” [a museum devoted to peasant life. RB]. The villa can be visited by appointment for groups, or between April and October on certain days of the week (see the official website).

Latest visit 20 June 2015. All photos by Paolo Bonavoglia, unless indicated otherwise.

For an overall interactive map of the Veneto, showing all these villas and many more, please see this custom Google map.

  1. (*) These twelve families have been called apostolic because, through their patronage, they gave birth to the Republic of Venice by electing the first Doge, Paoluccio Anafesto, in 697 AD. The twelve families were: Badoer, Barozzi, Contarini, Dandolo, Falier, Gradenigo, Memmo, Michiel, Morosini, Polani, Sanudo and Tiepolo. Often added to this list are four so-called evangelist families: Bembo, Bragadin, Corner e Giustinian.