The Villa Giovannelli Colonna is a rural palace which was commissioned in the late 17th century by the Giovanelli family to the architect Antonio Gaspari.
In 1738 Andrea Giovanelli and his brother Benedetto decorated the facade of the Villa with the festive Pronaos and a precious entrance stairway by Giorgio Massari. On the balustrades are six allegorical statues representing the five senses: the Belvedere (sight/male), Il Odorato (smell/male), Il Tatto (touch/female), L'Udire (hearing/female), Il Gusto (taste/female) which are observed by La Ragione. They were executed by Antonio Tarsia, Antonio Gai and by the brothers Paolo and Giuseppe Groppelli.
The interior is frescoed by Sebastiano Ricci and Giuseppe Angeli, who also did the frescos in Villa Widmann-Foscari. The frescos were changed when Federico Giovanelli, Patriarch of Venice, took over the villa. His brothers Giovanni Benedetto and Giovanni Paolo Giovannelli commissioned two large canvases by Luca Carlevarijs. The gardens consist of labyrinths and designs.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.