It was built by Andrea Palladio between 1554 and 1560 for the humanist Daniele Barbaro and his brother Marcantonio Barbaro, ambassador of Republic of Venice, transforming the old Medieval palace owned by the family into a splendid country house suitable for the study of arts and to intellectual contemplation.

Decorated with a cycle of frescoes representing one of the masterpieces by Paolo Veronese, considered one of the most extraordinary cycles of frescoes of the Cinquecentoveneto, the villa complex, which also includes a Palladian temple, was included by UNESCO in 1996 - along with the other Palladian villas of Veneto - in the list of World Heritage Sites.