Walking through the historic center of Refrontolo, just 15 minutes from La Corte di Marga, three Venetian villas are located; they are officially listed in the catalog of architectural assets of the Veneto Region: Villa Spada, Villa Capretta, and the complex now known as Villa Buosi. Each has a different story to tell.
Villa Spada (catalogued as Villa Spada Battaglia Peretti, 17th century) is the most-told story historical residence of Refrontolo. During the First World War, at the most dramatic moment on the Piave front — the Battle of the Solstice, in June 1918 — the villa was the headquarters of the Austro-Hungarian command, due to its dominant position over the Piave Quarter. It is the same panoramic position that can now be admired for free from the Tempietto Spada, the neoclassical gazebo not far from the villa.
That historical period within the walls of Villa Spada is told in a true novel: “Not all scoundrels are from Vienna” by Andrea Molesini, winner of the Campiello Prize in 2011, set in the villa itself during the occupation.
In Via Capretta stands the oldest of the listed villas in Refrontolo: Villa Capretta Uberti Orlandi Colles-Lorenzon, of a sixteenth-century design (16th century). It is officially listed among the architectural assets of the Veneto Region, with historical documentation covering the period between 1801 and 1937. The composite name, as is often the case for Venetian villas, tells the story of the various ownership changes the building has undergone over the centuries.
In Via Vittoria is located the historical complex now known as Villa Buosi, but listed under the composite name Villa Ticozzi Aliprandi Meneghetti Pasinetti Ciardi Maccari (17th-18th centuries), which recounts centuries of changes in ownership — including the 19th-century phase linked to the Meneghetti family.
The most beautiful story, however, concerns the Venetian painter. Emma Ciardi (1879-1933), who lived and painted in this villa, creating her studio in a small, bright attic overlooking the south. In 2019 the Municipality of Refrontolo, together with the association Toponomastica Femminile, dedicated a small square near the bell tower to her and inaugurated a “Writer’s Room” in the rooms where she lived — today the home of the Bed & Breakfast Alle Zagare, which is located in that very villa.
Refrontolo is about 15 minutes by car from La Corte di Marga: a half-day is enough to combine a stroll through these villas (all privately owned, to be admired while strolling through the village), the Tempietto Spada and the nearby Molinetto della Croda, even finding time for a glass of Refrontolo Passito DOC before returning home.
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They are private properties, so you can see them from the outside while walking through the historic center. The only public panoramic point linked to Villa Spada is the Tempietto Spada. Villa Buosi today houses the B&B Alle Zagare.
Emma Ciardi (1879-1933) was a Venetian painter who lived and painted in Villa Buosi (Refrontolo). In 2019 the municipality dedicated a small square and a “Studio” in the villa where she lived to her.
Approximately 15 minutes by car, in the heart of the Prosecco Hills UNESCO site.