Torri di Quartesolo
Torri di Quartesolo is a town of around 12,000 people on the eastern edge of Vicenza, which has grown in recent decades mainly as...
Updated 11 July 2026 · Sources: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_sul_Tesina · https://www.comune.torridiquartesolo.vi.it/vivere-il-comune/storia-del-comune/ · https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storia_dei_fiumi_di_Vicenza
The story
The story of Torri di Quartesolo
Roman origins and the name
The territory of Torri di Quartesolo was crossed by the Via Postumia, the consular road built in 148 BC linking Genoa to Aquileia, and lay about four Roman miles from the municipium of Vicetia: hence the name Quartixolum, later evolved into Quartesolo. The "towers" in today's place name instead recall a wooden tower built by the people of Vicenza in the thirteenth century to defend the bridge over the Tesina, a strategic crossing point toward Padua. Roman-era archaeological finds, including an inscription found in the hamlet of Lerino, testify to continuous settlement since antiquity, though little of that past remains visible today, given the heavy urbanisation of the later twentieth century.
The Tesina bridge attributed to Palladio
The town's most significant historic landmark is the stone bridge over the Tesina river, traditionally attributed to Andrea Palladio, with a design dated to 1569 and construction begun in 1580 under Domenico Groppino, his usual collaborator. Despite later alterations, it remains the only surviving stone bridge linked to a Palladian design. The Tesina, which rises from the springs of Cibalde near Sandrigo and flows entirely through Vicenza territory before joining the Bacchiglione, crosses Torri di Quartesolo along a still relatively green stretch, with cycle and footpaths offering a natural break in the town's otherwise heavily built-up setting.
A Vicenza commuter town
Torri di Quartesolo has developed largely as a residential and industrial extension of Vicenza, a few kilometres away along the SS11 Padana Superiore state road. The territory includes the hamlets of Marola and Lerino alongside the main town, and hosts several industrial and craft zones that have grown, since the postwar period, alongside an originally agricultural economy. Retail parks and large stores line the state road, drawing customers from across the Vicenza hinterland. It's not a landscape built for aesthetics, but it honestly reflects the economic transformation of much of the eastern Veneto plain over the past seventy years, shaped by small and medium industry, logistics and retail.
The hamlets of Marola and Lerino
The hamlets of Marola and Lerino keep a more rural character than the main town, with scattered houses, small parish churches and farmland alternating with more recent housing development. Roman-era finds have been unearthed at Lerino, testifying to continuous settlement along the line of the Via Postumia. These are not places with major tourist draws, but they offer a quieter counterpoint to the more urbanised part of the municipality, appreciated mainly by residents who want to live a few minutes from Vicenza while keeping some contact with the countryside.
Vicenza close at hand
The real strength of Torri di Quartesolo, for anyone staying here, is its closeness to Vicenza, a UNESCO World Heritage city for its Palladian architecture, reachable in a few minutes by car or public transport. From here it's easy to plan visits to Villa Almerico Capra, known as "La Rotonda", to the Teatro Olimpico and to Vicenza's historic centre, as well as trips to Padua and Verona thanks to the town's good position on the road and motorway network. Anyone staying in Torri di Quartesolo for work or logistical reasons will find it more a practical base than a destination in itself, with the advantage of generally lower accommodation prices than central Vicenza.
Experiences not to miss
- Vedere il ponte sul Tesina attribuito ad Andrea Palladio
- See the stone bridge over the Tesina attributed to Andrea Palladio
To see
What to see in Torri di Quartesolo
Routes · Trovido Route
