The Bolzonella, located in the heart of Veneto and just a short distance from the historic center of the medieval town of Cittadella, has always been strongly oriented towards being a place dedicated to production, crop and water management, and the preservation of the earth’s fruits, rather than a leisure destination. This continues the great tradition of the Venetian villas, which were places of work (negotia) before becoming places of leisure (otia).

Initially, it belonged to the Carturo family: Benvenuto da Carturo was commissioned by the Republic of Padua to build the walls of Cittadella (1220). From then on, he took the name of Cittadella, and so did his descendants.

The Villa, the garden, the Church, and the annexes of Bolzonella, declared a National Monument after World War I and protected on August 6, 1964, date back to the late 1500s and are subsequent to the adjacent medieval tower dating back to the 1200s.

Until 1612, the entire settlement, which overlooked the Common Road to Cittadella, consisted of the easternmost building with the garden to the north, the Church, and the rural buildings with the mill.

The evolution of this place has been linked to the history of the territory and water management, the reclamation of “swampy lands,” and the cultivation of rice, utilizing the springs characteristic of this area. In particular, rice cultivation, also practiced by the Morosini family in nearby Sant’Anna, continued at Bolzonella from the 1600s throughout the 1800s.

From 1687, the Villa, expanded in 1656 (as noted in the inscription on the central tympanum of the southern façade), and the garden underwent modifications.

A rose parterre divided into four quadrants and the arcaded path of climbing plants to the north arose, along with an oak-lined avenue leading to the countryside to the east.

In the 1700s, the garden was described with a U-shaped fishpond that drew water from the irrigation ditch, regulated by the mill, with the rose parterre, hornbeam-lined paths that bordered the expanses of lawn, the sweet grove, and the bird sanctuary to the east of the fishpond.

The current layout of the Bolzonella garden was designed by Count Andrea Cittadella Vigodarzere (1804-1870), Senator of the Kingdom,

… who, having a special and understandable affection for the villa, wanted to expand it further, creating a delightful garden with a forest and a conifer lake, which also rise in the lawn in front of the palace.”

and represents the last expansion.

In the Austrian Cadastre (1846), Bolzonella was designated “partly as a vacation residence, partly as a rural enterprise,” an identity that remains valid.

The garden, as it is today, is attributed to the renowned architect and landscape designer Giuseppe Jappelli, dating from 1824 to 1830.

Historical evidence, such as the relationship between the Cittadella Vigodarzere family and Jappelli himself, and some formal elements in the vegetation layout, clearly link the style to him, with a predominant focus on naturalistic elements.

Today, the garden consists of large lawns framed by hedges of antique roses, traversed by straight paths intersecting perpendicularly, adorned with potted lemon trees (formal garden). Around it are two long avenues of hornbeams, linden trees, maples, and oaks following the water line of the fishpond, which to the east separates the grove of dated and valuable tree specimens.

In particular, near the original pond, one finds Zelkova carpinifolia, Quercus palustris, Quercus robur, Cedrus atlantica, and Taxodium distichum.

Gentle earth movements and paths lead to small meadows and clearings, in a clearly landscape style.

Scattered around, forming benches and fountains, are remnants of ancient capitals and corbels, traditionally believed to be remnants of the nearby Villa Morosini in Sant’Anna.

The Church of Bolzonella is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, as stated on a copy of an inscription transcribed by Jacopo Salomonio. It was inaugurated in 1664 after reconstruction by Count Bartolomeo Cittadella.

The Church was completely renovated around 1830, to serve as a funerary chapel, in a style believed to be clearly attributable to Jappelli, commissioned by Count Andrea Cittadella Vigodarzere, where he himself was laid to rest in 1870, demonstrating the great affection he had for this place.

The Church has a main entrance from the public road and another entrance from the private garden.

Above the arch of the door, there is a high-relief butterfly, which iconographically represents the soul according to classical tradition.

Additionally, here we find a quotation from Canto X of Dante’s Purgatorio: “we are worms meant to form the angelic butterfly,” and slightly above, an epigraph with transcribed verses from Ugo Foscolo’s Sepolcri: “on the deceased / no flower blooms / unless it is honored by human / praise and loving tears.”

Both quotations explicitly refer to the funerary function of the chapel and clearly connect to Andrea Cittadella Vigodarzere and the circle of intellectuals and humanists he was part of, including Foscolo himself.

In 1975, Countess Andreina Cittadella Vigodarzere, who had no children, adopted her niece, Countess Alessandra Giusti del Giardino, thereby leaving her all her properties in Bolzonella.

Since 2020, the property has passed to the latter’s son, Marquis Pietro Imperiali di Francavilla.