Veneto is not just Venice, with its famous lagoon and gondolas, the magnificent San Marco Cathedral, the Bridge of Sights, the beautiful palaces...expression of the power and wealth of the 4th Italian Maritime Republic. Veneto is also rich in natural beauty, such as the Dolomites (also called Pale Mountains), tourist destination for both ski lovers and climbing ones. Padua, seat of a prestigious university, boasts a valuable artistic and cultural heritage (St. Anthony Basilica, the Scrovegni Chapel, the Abbey of Santa Giustina). The beautiful Palladian Villas, named after the author, the architect Andrea Palladio, who projected and realized them during the XVI century; their harmonious beauty is still capable of astonishing, such as La Rotonda in Vicenza. And during the summer at Verona, the city immortalised by Shakespeare in his Romeo and Juliet, a night at the opera in the Arena should not be missed.