Possibly it was bad form, on a visit to a winery in Italy, to be talking about how wonderful Richmond, Virginia is: the spectacular river, the friendly neighborhoods, the beautiful architecture. “It’s a shame so many of the old buildings were burned as the Civil War ended,” I said.
My host stopped me.
“How old?” he asked politely.
Ah, yes. Even I, the yakker, could detect the note of remonstrance in his question.
“1700s,” I mumbled into my glass of wine, and stopped talking.
I was in Vicenza, after all, in the 500th anniversary year of the architect Andrea Palladio’s birth. His villas dot the countryside, and his churches and palatial residences are scattered thickly throughout Vicenza’s city center, often next to structures that have been standing since 1408, 1308 and earlier. In the States, our buildings are no more old than ripened grapes are wine. read full story