Located in Stra, about ten minutes outside of Padova facing the Brenta River, Villa Pisani is a very grand complex originally owned by the Pisani family, a very influential and powerful Venetian family during the 17th and 18th centuries. During this time, the family cashed in on Venice's ever-booming trade industry, and various members of the family became influential politicians, culminating in Andrea Pisani Alvise becoming doge in 1735. Unfortunately, with the fall of Venice also came the end of the Pisani family's fortune, and the villa was sold to Napoleon, who in turn gave it to Eugene Beuaharnais when the latter was appointed as the French Viceroy of the former Venetian Empire. The ownership of th villa did not switch back to Italian hands until the unification of Italy, when the villa came under state ownership and subsequently abandonment and disrepair. Other than some notable visitors and the first meeting between Mussolini and Hitler, the villa only started to gain attention again and much needed restoration until the late 1970s. During this time, renowned Italian avant garde filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini filmed a part of his film Porcile in the grounds of the villa:
