Villa di Maser from Cornuda: Palladio and Veronese, 4 km Away

What it is

Maser is a small comune next to Cornuda, with about 4,900 people in 2004 (Wikipedia). Its reason to visit is the Villa di Maser, also known as Villa Barbaro. Andrea Palladio designed it for the brothers Daniele and Marcantonio Barbaro, with frescoes by Paolo Veronese and sculptures by Alessandro Vittoria (Wikipedia). Dates vary between sources; it was built around 1560 (same source).

It’s part of the UNESCO World Heritage site “City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto” (UNESCO). The family that bought it in 1934 still lives there, and the estate also makes wine (same Wikipedia source).

Like Cornuda, part of Maser is in the Asolo Prosecco DOCG zone (disciplinare, Article 3).

What to see

• The frescoes: Veronese painted the rooms of the main floor, probably around the early 1560s. Wikipedia calls them his most important fresco cycle. In the Hall of Olympus he painted Giustiniana, Marcantonio’s wife, with her youngest son, a wet nurse, a parrot and a spaniel (Wikipedia).
• The front: a central block shaped like a Roman temple front, with four Ionic columns, flanked by two arcaded wings (same source).
• The nymphaeum: a garden structure framing a natural spring (same source).
• The Tempietto: a church with a central plan, built by Palladio to serve the villa and the village, dated 1580 by an inscription; it was one of his last works (same source). It’s shown on the guided tour “Tra Villa e Tempietto” (€18) (Villa di Maser).
• The wine shop: the estate has a winery with tastings; a “Premium” tasting of five wines costs €25 (Villa di Maser, checked 14 October 2026).

Opening days and prices, checked 14 October 2026 on the Villa di Maser site:

Last entry is 17:30, or 16:30 in winter. The villa is closed on 27 October 2026 from 14:00. Tickets: €12 adults, €9 reduced, €5.50 children 8–14, €28 family, free under 8. You can buy them at the ticket office or online.

A full ticket here gives a reduced ticket at the Museo Canova in Possagno and the Asolo museum, part of the “Isola dei Musei” scheme (Museo Canova).

Getting there from Cornuda

All three are OpenStreetMap routing estimates, checked 14 October 2026; the car time assumes no traffic. We didn’t find a direct bus from Cornuda to the villa.

Time needed

One and a half to two hours for the villa, the garden and the Tempietto. Add a tasting if you want it. Asolo is about 8 km (13 minutes) further by car (OpenStreetMap routing estimate).