Villa Tacchi, Vicenza

Villa Tacchi, a residence of Palladian design, is located 7 kilometers from Vicenza, encircled by the green countryside. The beauty and glamour of this villa, built at the end of the XVIIth century, come from its simple purity and subtle connection with its surrounding landscape. Its first owner was the rich Gazzo Beretta Family from Venice. Recently Medical Systems has transformed the villa into a meeting center, provided with modern equipments for workshops, meetings, conventions and lectures while preserving the original traditions and history of the building. The dome shaped icebox, built at the end of the eighteenth century, represented a modernization of contemporary iceboxes, which basically consisted of a hole digged in the ground covered with a thick layer of leaves. The function of the icebox was to preserve the largest possible quantity of ice. Its old shape was later replaced by stones to form the basement and the walls, thereby avoiding direct contact between the ice and the ground permeable to water and air. In this way thermal variations were limited. The circular structure represented the best solution to balance the force of the ground against the lateral icebox surface, its shape increased the ice capacity for a longer time. Thanks to the innovation, it was possible to preserve ice for several months and the owners were able to keep food and beverages fresh.