Andrea Palladio is universally regarded as one of the most important architects of the Renaissance. He was the first professional architect and was strongly influenced by Greek and Roman architecture, particularly by Vitruvius. His treatise Quattro libri dellarchitettura also earned him worldwide recognition. Palladios villas are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This book documents and analyzes ten of Palladios eighteen surviving villas specifically in terms of their relationship with their natural surroundings; their influence on those surroundings is investigated as well. The selected villas constitute a representative cross section of Palladios wide-ranging output. The landscape formations of Veneto, where these villas are located, may be divided into three types: plains surrounded by mountains, arid plains, and marshland.