Multimedia route
The stages of a new multimedia route have been set up: a novel way of approaching this very important and iconic cultural site in the region. Four digital paintings have been set up in the stables, each depicting a character linked to the history of the villa. Present, of course, are Doge Lodovico Manin and Napoleon Bonaparte, the master of the house and the unwieldy host whose names are associated with the end of the Venetian Republic.
Also present is Maria Amalia of Saxony who stopped at the Villa Manin in 1738 on her journey from Dresden to Naples to her husband Charles of Bourbon. Finally, a digital painting portrays a humble servant girl, born at the end of the 18th century in one of the exedras. Each of the characters will tell those who come to visit them their story, what links them to the villa and what it has represented in their lives.
A tactile table, a veritable treasure trove of information, has also been set up in the Stufa Hall: the impressive architecture of the monumental complex can be visited with just the touch of the fingertips and viewed from all sides as if it were a model. The stages in the evolution of the architecture can be retraced from the mid 17th century to when, a century later, it assumed the appearance with which we still know it. Leafing through the pages of the table you will be able to understand why such an imposing villa arose, almost as if by magic, right in the middle of the Friulian countryside, while in the section dedicated to the park you will be able to relive its transformation from an eighteenth-century almost carpet of wonders in geometric shapes into a romantic garden with symbols of the Risorgimento. The table is not only dedicated to the architecture and the park: a gallery of portraits and stories allows visitors to get to know the famous people who, sometimes welcome guests, more often conquerors attracted by the charm of the villa, over the centuries have stayed in Passariano.
In the Treaty Room, Villa Manin presents an innovative immersive experience whose protagonists are Napoleon Bonaparte and the other historical figures who, together with him, concluded, in the halls of Villa Manin, the negotiations that led to the signing of the famous ‘Treaty of Campoformido’ in October 1797.
Who took part in the negotiations? Where did they take place? What consequences did the Treaty have on the history of Europe and Italy in particular? Why was it signed at Villa Manin despite bearing the name Campoformido? These and other questions are answered by this multimedia installation, with a fast and engaging language based on large images and tight dialogues.
