VICENZA, a handsome city of Venetia, beautifully situated at the confluence of the Bacchigloine and Retrone rivers, 42 in. w. of Venice by railway. The rivers are crossed by eight bridges, one of which, a bold, single arch, is attributed to Palladio, who was a native of the city, and to whose genius it is much indebted for its beauty. Vicenza is surrounded by a moat, and walls half in ruins, and contains many fine palaces and churches. The Piazza dei Signori, a remarkably fine square, contains a lofty and slen der campanile, 270 IL high, and only 23 ft. wide. The Palazzo della Regione is a hand some Gothic building, by Palladio. The Palazzo Prefettizio, by the same architect, is a rich and fanciful Corinthian edifice. The Duomo, built in 1467, is Gothic; the nave of it is 60 ft. wide; and in certain of the chapels are interesting pictures. The Teatro Olimpico, the scenery of which is fixed, and represents a species of piazza, with diverg ing streets of real elevation, but diminishing in size, is by Palladio. Vicenza contains a
lyceum, a seminary, and a picture gallery; a library, numbering 60,000 vols., and a hospital, and many benevolent institutions. Manufactures of silk, linen, earthenware, paper, and velvet are carried on. The surrounding country, studded with mansion houses, and rich in vineyards, is exceedingly beautiful. Pop. '72, 37,686.
Vicenza (anc. Vicentia, or more correctly, perhaps, according to inscriptions, Vi cetia) is a very ancient city. An inscription records its existence in 136 B.C., and it continued to be a municipal town of some consideration, till it was laid waste by Attila, 452 A.D. It revived again under the Lombards, and became for a time, in the middle ages, an independent republic.