The "Valletta del Silenzio"

The Little Silent Valley - A contemplation of Fogazzaro's view

The Valletta del Silenzio (“Little Valley of Silence”) is a quiet, green landscape right in front of the Villa. The name is closely associated with Antonio Fogazzaro, who lived here and made the landscape part of the imaginative world of his novel "Piccolo Mondo Moderno. The phrase “Valletta del Silenzio” itself appears in the novel.

For Fogazzaro, the valley is more than a geographical setting. It is an intimate, secluded landscape, enclosed by the gentle slopes of the Colli Berici and characterised by fields, trees, hedges, waterways and old villas. Its dominant quality is the stillness: a peaceful countryside separated from the noise and activity of the city. Fogazzaro could contemplate it from his family's home, and the landscape became deeply connected with his personal and literary life.

It is an idyllic, secluded and almost dreamlike landscape whose silence, soft light and surrounding hills create an atmosphere of peace and melancholy. It is both a real Vicentine landscape and a symbolic space that mirrors Fogazzaro's emotions and his own attachment to nature.

The atmosphere is particularly romantic and contemplative. The valley changes with light and weather: mist softens the countryside, evening light gives it melancholy colours, while the silhouettes of cypresses and villas stand against the hills. Later descriptions inspired by Fogazzaro emphasise precisely this combination of peace, mystery and gentle melancholy.

In "Piccolo Mondo Moderno", this natural setting also reflects the novel's emotional world. The calm exterior landscape contrasts with the inner conflicts, desires and moral anxieties of the characters. Nature therefore has a psychological function: silence encourages reflection, while the secluded valley becomes a space associated with intimacy and escape. When Jeanne speaks of wanting to go somewhere “where nobody knew us,” the Valletta belongs to that same atmosphere of withdrawal from ordinary social life.

Imagine dining at sunset immersed in this peaceful setting with only the sounds of nature to be heard. Cecil Beaton, someone who knew a thing or two about settings, declared it "the most enchanting surroundings I can imagine for indulging in a glass of Prosecco and toast

with friends". Fogazzaro would have agreed!