Ca 'd'Oro palace description and photos - Italy: Venice (Topic)

Ca 'd'Oro Palace description and photos - Italy: Venice. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Ca 'd'Oro.

Photo and description

Ca 'd'Oro - "Golden House" - a luxurious palace in Venice on the banks of the Grand Canal. It got its name due to the fact that gold leaf was used in its initial decoration. The official name of the palace located in the Cannaregio quarter is Palazzo Santa Sofia. Today it is considered one of the finest examples of Venetian Gothic.

Ca 'd'Oro was built between 1428 and 1430 by architects Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bona for the patrician Marino Contarini from the powerful family that gave Venice eight Doges. Previously, on the site of the palace there was a Byzantine-style Palazzo Zeno, which Contarini received along with his wife's dowry. Palazzo Zeno was demolished, and in its place they began to build a new palace, while retaining the elements of the old in the facade.

The main facade of Ca 'd'Oro, overlooking the Grand Canal, is made in the popular Venetian Gothic style, as are the neighboring Palazzo Barbaro and Palazzo Giustinian. On the ground floor of the palace, in a small depression, there is a loggia through which you can get to the lobby. The closed balcony of the main hall can be seen above the box. The columns and arches of this balcony have capitals, which, in turn, support a row of graceful four-leafed windows, and above the balcony there is another covered loggia of similar design. I must say that the very architecture of the palace is a kind of combination of a medieval church and a mosque.

Over the years of its history, Ca 'd'Oro has changed many owners and was rebuilt several times. In 1894, it was bought by Baron Giorgio Franchetti, who initiated a large-scale reconstruction of the building according to the surviving drawings and paintings. The baron intended to return the palace to its historical appearance. In addition, Franchetti amassed a rich collection of paintings, which after his death, together with Ca 'd' Oro, became the property of Venice and the public domain. Since 1927, one of the most elegant Gothic palaces in Venice has been home to the Franchetti Gallery.

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Topic: Ca 'd'Oro palace description and photos - Italy: Venice.