Ca' Foscari Palace, Venice, Italy

Ca' Foscari, the palace of the Foscari family, is a Gothic building on the waterfront of the Grand Canal in Venice. In 1453 the Republic of Venice regained possession of the older palace and sold it to the Doge of the time, Francesco Foscari; he had the palace demolished and rebuilt in late Venetian gothic style. The building was chosen by the doge for its position on the Grand Canal.

Foscari immediately set about rebuilding the palace in a manner befitting his status: he moved the site of the new palace forward on to the bank of the Grand Canal. Buying and rebuilding the palace for himself meant for the doge affirming his political and military role: he actually represented the continuity of the military successes of that period, lasted 30 years, and was the promoter of the Venetian expansion in the mainland (terraferma). The huge new palace could hardly have been finished when Foscari was disgraced in 1457 and retired to his new home until his death.

Presently the palace is the headquarters of the Ca' Foscari University, which has made accessible to the public some of the most beautiful halls, such as the 'Aula Baratto' and the 'Aula Berengo'.

Ca' Foscari is a typical example of the residence of the Venetian nobles and merchants. The structure is one of the most imposing buildings of the city and its external courtyard is the biggest courtyard of a private house after that of the Doge's Palace. In common with other palaces, Ca' Foscari's principal and most decorated facade and entrance faced the Grand Canal - the city's main thoroughfare. This façade is characterized by a rhythmic sequence of arches and windows; this style, known as Floral Gothic, is emulated throughout the city and can be identified through the use of pointed arches and carved window heads. At Ca' Foscari, the tops of each column are decorated with carved quatrefoil patterns; the Gothic capitals are adorned with foliage, animals and masks. Above the Gothic window is a marble frieze with a helmet surmounted with a lion couchant representing the role of the doge as the captain of the republic; at each side of the central helmet we can find two putti holding a shield symbolising the Foscari's coat of arms with the winged lion of Saint Mark, symbol of Venice.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Giorgio mortari vv (10 months ago)
The staff was very kind.The rooms were clean.I recommend it.

Livia Cafini (10 months ago)
We stayed a weekend in Hotel Locanda Ca'Foscari and it was really nice. The room was clean and the staff corteous. It is also in a good location, so that we could walk to all the places we wanted to visit. Recommendable for everybody who wants to have a few nice days in venice without spending to much money :)

Grant Bremner (15 months ago)
This is a budget hotel ideally situated next to the Grand Canal and within easy walking distance of all the historical spectacular attractions Venice has to offer. Make sure you have a camera with you when you begin to explore this marvellous city. The rooms are small, clean and neat just what you'd expect from this type of hotel. The staff are friendly and very helpful at all times.

Parth Dave (2 years ago)
Giving 1 star only because of the location! Its walking distance from the main bus stop. Apart from that, rooms are so small, if you have more baggage it will be hard to manage! Room was very dark as well, very dim light. Bathroom is again small. Compared to the price i have paid, i have not got the service I wanted. Plus we arrived early (before 2pm checkin) and requested to put us in because we were so tired from our journey and the owner didn’t care so had to wait for couple of hours.

kevin lewis (3 years ago)
It’s true about no soap in the toilet and steep narrow stairs . I also had a 3 bed room to myself 56 E per night. I’m new at this but I thought it reasonable. Google maps tried to send me to the other side of the building which is very confusing in Venice.

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Construction on the present building was begun in the 17th century by the architect Domenico Fontana. Intended to house the King Philip III of Spain on a visit never fulfilled to this part of his kingdom, instead it initially housed the Viceroy Fernando Ruiz de Castro, count of Lemos. By 1616, the facade had been completed, and by 1620, the interior was frescoed by Battistello Caracciolo, Giovanni Balducci, and Belisario Corenzio. The decoration of the Royal Chapel of Assumption was not completed until 1644 by Antonio Picchiatti.

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In 1922, it was decided to transfer here the contents of the National Library. The transfer of library collections was made by 1925.

The library suffered from bombing during World War II and the subsequent military occupation of the building caused serious damage. Today, the palace and adjacent grounds house the famous Teatro San Carlo, the smaller Teatrino di Corte (recently restored), the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, a museum, and offices, including those of the regional tourist board.

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