Palladio’s genius

Andrea Palladio is perhaps the most influential of all Western architects, says Susan Marling in the Daily Telegraph. Without him "there would be no Capitol Hill, no Regent Street, no porticoed houses for footballers' wives, no Bank of England". To commemorate the 500th anniversary of his birth, a retrospective of his work has just opened in Vicenza. But although the show (which transfers to the Royal Academy in January) is no doubt worth a visit, far better to go and see the buildings themselves. Palladio's work is concentrated around Venice and Vicenza, and, although his masterpieces include churches and state buildings in the cities, the heart of any pilgrimage must be a tour of the villas he designed for powerful families in the nearby countryside. Among the "loveliest" is the Villa Emo at Fanzolo, with its long, low arcaded wings; seen from a distance, it "rises from the plain like a dazzling Greek temple".

Ryanair (0871 246 0000) flies to Treviso, which is convenient for reaching both Venice and Vicenza. ·