Timeless palace in the Poet's Village

In the heart of Arquà Petrarca, where the time seems to have stopped, we are pleased to offer on exclusive Palazzo Contarini, the most important and architecturally significant building in the medieval village which hosted the famous poet Francesco Petrarca during the last years of his life. Of fourteenth-century origin, it still retains the character and architecture of the "Villa Dominicalis" of the fifteenth-century Venetian nobleman. The coats of arms still present on the facades of the building are the testimony of the noble families who have lived throughout history. The house looks like a single body with a rectangular plan but is actually composed of two juxtaposed volumes: the older one, with a square plan, with an external staircase that leads to an all-round arched door flanked by oculi, surmounted by a three-mullioned lancet window and flanked by a large archway, now closed. The internal distribution is simple and regular, in the middle dominates the typical large hall of Venetian palaces, repeated on the upper floor. On the sides there are various rooms of different dimensions.The more recent body, on the other hand, has two open arches surmounted by three-light and single-lancet windows, which lead to an imposing portico that leads to the second entrance of the building. The construction has a very solid appearance and rests on the foundations largely on limestone. The materials used are those typical of the place: rows of stones alternating with bricks in the lower part of the building, and bricks in the upper part. Istrian stone and trachyte were also used for the staircases. The property is spread over three levels with an area of about 400 square meters each: on the ground floor there is a large living room, a dining room, an eat-in kitchen with a stone fireplace, a study area and some large accessory rooms that can be used as a cellar and shelter for cars. The floors are in terracotta, vermilion red tiles, painted for better conservation. The ceilings have a simple structure with a close weave of exposed beams and boast an important height of over 4 meters. The noble floor currently houses the sleeping area, consisting of a second central hall and a further seven large bedrooms generously illuminated by the light that filters through the numerous windows of the building. On the second level there is a spacious open-space attic, with original exposed beams and tiles, which can be used for multiple uses.An enchanting and intimate garden of over 500 square meters, through which to admire the suggestive surrounding landscape immersed in tranquility and silence, completes and makes the property even more unique and exclusive. Due to its location and characteristics, Palazzo Contarini lends itself not only to residential use but also as a location for events, a tourist accommodation facility or a prestigious representative office.