Hotel Villa Margherita – History – Hotel in Mira Porte offering 4 star accommodation near the centre of Venice

Villa Pisani, also known as the Villa Nazionale, is set in Strà a beautiful Venetian area which attracted Doge Alvise Pisani who had magnificent gardens landscaped around the mansion.  It was constructed at the beginning of the 18th century and was designed by the architect Gerolamo Frigimelica for the Pisani family.  The villa is the largest and the most famous as it was used by Napoleon and also functioned as the site for the first meeting between Mussolini and Hitler.  The villa has frescoes by Tiepolo, Guarana and Bevilacqua.

Villa Foscari is a patrician villa built between 1558 and 1560 in Mira, designed by Palladio and considered to be one of the most romantic and classic villas in the Brenta Riviera.  It is known as La Malcontenta, a nickname it received when the spouse of one of the Foscari family was locked up there because she allegedly didn’t live up to her conjugal duty.

Villa Gradenigo is a beautiful example of a 16th century villa.  At the beginning of the 19th century the villa was divided into many different flats.  It was subsequently restored and the frescoes on the ground and first floors can be now admired.

Villa Widmann Foscari is a 18th century palace surrounded by cypress and horse-chestnut trees and gardens interspersed by numerous stone statues of gods, nymphs and cupids.

Villa Barchessa Valmarana was constructed during the 1540s and so is one of Palladio’s earlier works.  It was commissioned by two cousins of the Valmarana family and its design shows the particular influence of buildings from antiquity.

DAL CORSO HOTELS (Villa Margherita & Villa Franceschi) - COOKING IN VENETO WITH CHEF REMIGIO

Join the Dal Corso family for a week of cooking and touring at Venice’s doorstep.  Located just 20 minutes outside of Venice on the Riviera Del Brenta, the Villa is one of many lavish villas that were once country homes to the aristocracy of Venice.  Your week includes 4 hands-on cooking classes with Chef Remigio, as well as guided tours of Venice, nearby villas, and Padua.  The Dal Corso family is a family of food lovers and Chef Remigio, along with his wife Valeria, and their two sons Alessandro and Dario welcome you with warm Italian hospitality for a magical week of Venetian elegance and the art of cooking. 

COOKING CLASSES

Your cooking classes are held under the direction of Chef Remigio Dal Corso, at the villa’s restaurant located just across the street from the villa itself.  The restaurant has a private wharf on the Brenta River and from the restaurant you can see the crystalline waters of this peaceful canal. 

Venetian cuisine has an emphasis on fresh fish and Chef Dal Corso declares his cuisine is ‘ruled by respect for tradition, attention to quality and the absolute use of fresh fish.’  Some of his specialties include carpaccio di salmone e scampi, delicate marinated salmon and shrimp, risotto con scampi e verdure, shrimp risotto with seasonal vegetables, spaghetti con vongole veraci, pasta with local clams, and a variety of local fish served grilled, battered, pan-fried and more.  Venetian specialties include grilled eel, squid Venice-style, shrimp or lobster served cooked under rock salt and many others. 

Each cooking class includes the preparation of a full menu, followed by lunch or dinner on the foods prepared in class.  Menus vary based on the season, and can accommodate special requests and diets needs.  The house sommelier is on hand to help choose from a notable selection of Italian and International wines and champagnes.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Built as the residence of a noble family, the 15th century villa has been restored into a sophisticated country inn by the dedicated Dal Corso family.  With a perfect location just 20 minutes from Venice, the Villa is situated on a scenic bend of the Brenta River.  The matriarch Valeria Dal Corso and her family are all on hand to ensure their guests are well taken care of and even the grandmother works in the kitchen!  The bar and sitting room offer a welcoming atmosphere to relax and during summer months, breakfast is served on the outdoor terrace at the rear of the villa. 

Guest rooms feature sophisticated yet simple furnishings and offer lovely views of the villa gardens.  All rooms have modern amenities including private bathroom, satellite TV, minibar, telephone, internet connection and air conditioning.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Venetian nobles opened their villas on the Brenta river to celebrate their cult for hospitality. Their guests stayed in an elegant residence decorated with statues, frescoes and Murano glasswork, in an atmosphere that was both familiar and refined.
Today the only way to relive those magic moments in a noble residence on the Brenta river is at the seventeenth century Contarini villa, now the Villa Margherita Hotel. The building has remained intact, just as it was four centuries ago, lying on a bend in the river, set off to full advantage by the neighbouring Widmann and Valmarana villas and surrounded by an ample garden with an orchard.

Subtle atmospheres and mythical presences pervade the elegant interior. You can spend some time at the bar among the mirrors and stucco decorations, then be enticed away by the surrounding rooms. The frescoes on the walls, the furniture made of briarwood and other valuable woods and the flickering light from the open fireplace create a pleasant atmosphere for reading, conversation and the subtle pleasures of life. Serenity and balance are leading figures even in the joyful banquet hall and the sunny garden terrace which opens onto the park.

The outline of the magnolias and the geometry of the orchard can be seen at their best from the rooms projecting their windows and terraces onto the surrounding expanse of greenery. All nineteen bedrooms have television via satellite with European channels, mainline telephone, air conditioning and a drinks cooler; each room is personalized with refined fabrics paintings by well known artists, persian carpets and hand-painted ceramics. The Villa Margherita Hotel is a synthesis of four centuries of culture and civilization.

The Villa Margherita Hotel and its neighbouring Restaurant Margherita situated inside the beautiful Villa Franceschi  both face onto one of the most beautiful and best preserved tracts of the Riviera del Brenta and are surrounded by parks and open spaces.