Villa Barbaro

The Villa Barbaro at Maser comes complete with its own church, the Tempietto, placed rather uncomfortably in the middle of the road. Unfortunately closed to the public the day I arrived, but at least no tourists in front of it. It is one of the category of Palladian villas which is very much part of a farm complex, with the wings serving various agricultural functions. A rather sad "fountain" of Neptune looks up the main driveway to the villa, its back to the fields and vineyards of the farm. It must have been great to be rich in those days, for the Barbaros seem to have palaces dotted all over the place. This time they clearly felt the need for a conveniently located temple, replete with the inevitable soft porn fresco, neatly complementing the statue of a naked man furtively scratching his gentleman's area by the main gate.