Villa Seriman, Mira (VE)
Mira, altitude 5 m/16 feet above sea level; train station at Mira, 4 km/2.5 miles to the north on the Venezia-Padova line or at Mira Buse about 1 km/.6 mile to the south on the Venezia-Adria line.
The villa is located on the northern side of the Riviera del Brenta and is easily accessible from the bicycle route of the Brenta opposite the barchesse [support structures] of Villa Valmarana.
The villa was built around 1720, perhaps by the architect Andrea Tirali, on behalf of the Seriman family of wealthy Armenian merchants. In 1751 it passed to the Milanese Serbelloni family who enlarged the villa and increased its height in a manner that was rather unorthodox for the Venetian Republic. Only the entrance loggia on the ground floor remained as it was originally.
Later the villa was inhabited by the Widmann family, whose coat of arms was added to the facade, and who, on several occasions, hosted Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico, a relative of the Widmanns.
In the nineteenth century, the villa passed to the Somazzi family, then returned to a Widmann heiress that married a Foscari. Hence the variety of names by which the villa is known: Villa Seriman-Widmann-Rezzonico-Foscari.
All photos by Paolo Bonavoglia, unless indicated otherwise
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