In search of... Palladio in Italy

This grand architectural style was much copied in Britain. To see the originals, you must head for the Continent

The true stars of Gosford Park and The Edwardian Country House, two of the biggest screen hits of the past year, were the beautiful stately homes in which they were set. You may not have noticed it, if you were busy admiring Kristin Scott Thomas in her jodhpurs or watching Mr Edgar the butler fastidiously iron his master's newspaper, but both of these houses were built in the Palladian style.

The English stately home is labelled Palladian if it has a few steps leading up to the front door, a cluster of columns and a pediment. The archetypal mansion owes its ample proportions to the brilliant young 16th-century architect who went back to Ancient Roman principles and created a style imitated by the landed gentry in their quest for status. Imitated, but not replicated. For the real thing you head for the Veneto in northern Italy and its spectacular Palladian villas.

Where do I start?

Palladio was born in Padua, but perfected his internationally renowned style in Vicenza. Giangiorgio Trissino, his patron, encouraged the young stonemason to study the classical principles laid down by Vitruvius in the first century BC, and championed his enlightened designs among the affluent middle class and nobility in this important trading area. He even changed the boy's name, from Andrea di Pietro della Gondola. Vicenza is stuffed with buildings built, begun or modified by Palladio – dignified palaces and civic buildings graced with classical columns and harmonious proportions.

Give me an example

The Basilica in the Piazza dei Signori is Vicenza's pride and joy. Palladio wrapped classical columns and porticos around existing medieval buildings to create a unified whole, and in so doing demonstrated the sleight of hand which was to distinguish his career. Most building plots have irregularities or obstacles, but Palladio always created the illusion of symmetry by minutely adjusting measurements. His original drawings are dotted with tiny calculations, using a variety of local units of length.

Are the drawings in Vicenza too?

Ah, this is a bit embarrassing. They were, but when the English architect Inigo Jones travelled to Vicenza to walk in Palladio's footsteps in the 17th century, he took most of them back to England, and they are closeted with the Royal Institute of British Architects in London. Vicenza has a handful under lock and key. Fortunately, Palladio opened his notebooks to the world, publishing the Quattro Libri – his four books of architecture. In these he recorded in minute detail the important buildings of ancient Rome and his own designs for all to copy.

It sounds like the Elgin Marbles all over again.

Vicenza is very relaxed about the drawings. After all, it has the buildings, and some are like three-dimensional text-books. The Palazzo Porto Breganze, for example, has only three columns and two bays. Building was done sideways, not from foundation to roof as today. If the money ran out there were at least some habitable rooms. In the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, home to a permanent Palladio exhibition and research centre, one room is only partially decorated. The glue is all ready to adhere the gold leaf, and then abandoned. It is as if the craftsmen have just popped out.

Was anything finished?

Lots, but little within Palladio's lifetime. Fellow architects and trusted master masons completed what he had set in motion. There were, after all, 70 or so villas, plus the Church of the Redentore in Venice, the Basilica, bridges, loggias, and public buildings on the order book. The nobility were all keen to have a villa or palace in Palladian style to demonstrate their independence from nearby overweening Venice and its Gothic fancies.

What went on in the villas?

Work. And play. That was the distinguishing feature of a Palladian villa, which was effectively a grandiose farmhouse. Functional outbuildings were prominent on either side of the grand living area, symbolic of the earned wealth of the owner who parked his villa in the middle of his agricultural land. The land itself was largely reclaimed, and on the soggy side, despite watercourses built over the centuries. Palladio's symmetrical buildings meant that if they subsided, the whole joint went down evenly.

Crumbs! Should we head for the hills?

Absolutely. Many clients wanted villas in elevated positions for the air and the view. At Villa Godi Valmarana Malinverni near Lugo di Vicenza, possibly Palladio's first, built before his life-changing trip to Rome, the fresco painters dabbed a little scorpion into the ornamentation, as a good omen for dry walls. The perfect Villa Rotonda is perched on a hummock just above Vicenza. It has a circular hall and four identical entrances (apparently, but actually Palladio tweaks it with some extra steps, see above).

No chance of picking up a villa of my own while I'm there?

Yes, if you have £8m to spare. The outstanding Villa Emo at Fanzolo di Vedelago has just come on the market for the first time since it was finished in 1565. But owning a Palladian villa is a very hands-on business, and planning restrictions are draconian. Don't even think about installing a swimming pool or a helipad. You're better off as a paying visitor. Move in for the afternoon and move on.

Where next?

Aim for the Villa Foscari ("La Malcontenta") outside Venice and the Villa Barbaro at Maser with its Veronese frescos. Watch out for opening times – they differ from villa to villa: La Rotonda only opens on Wednesday mornings. Save the best till last – Palladio did. In Vicenza the remarkable Teatro Olimpico, built by subscription by the many patrons whose statues in Roman dress adorn the auditorium, was Palladio's last work, started in the February before his death in August 1580 at the age of 72, and a stunning finale. The monumental, permanent stage set represents the seven streets of Thebes and has exaggerated perspective so that doorways apparently in the far distance are only a few feet high. Classical and jazz concerts are staged here in the summer, and classical plays in the autumn.

How do I get there? Where shall I stay?

Go, the low cost airline, (0870 607 6543; www.go-fly.com) offers flights to Venice from £68 return. The Hotel Campo Marzio (0039 0444 545700), the only four-star hotel in the historic centre of Vicenza, is modern, but the décor is in a variety of period styles and even the toiletries are presented in tiny Palladian boxes. Double rooms with breakfast and tax are from £95. Other major hotels are on the industrial estate, but there are more modest billets in the centre. For more information visit www.vicenzae.org.