Noemi Magri identifies Belmont as the Villa Foscari, a small but exquisite Palladian Villa in Malatesta (tr. headache), near Venice. Not very 'bel' and certainly no sign of a 'mont' but Magri insists that it is exactly 10 miles away, making a round trip exactly 20 miles and since this is the distance mentioned by Portia (who clearly intends a 20-mile one-way journey), there is only one possibility. It's Belmont! And Shakespeare is therefore Oxford because he alone is party to the secret of the distance between the Villa and the courts.
No mention of the fact that Bassanio took three months getting back and forth, or that those returning from the trial took all night. No suggestion that the small villa might not be big enough for casket work with 3 princes as guests (which it clearly is). 20 miles is 20 miles and no one likes an idée fixe more than an Oxfordian.
But is it 20 miles really correct? See Google satellite....
