Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi is a Renaissance palace in

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

, overlooking the Grand Canal and locating in the

Cannaregio Cannaregio () is the northernmost of the six historic ''sestieri'' (districts) of Venice. It is the second largest ''sestiere'' by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people . Isola di San Michele, the historic cemetery island, ...

district between Palazzo Querini Papozze and Palazzo Gritti. The palazzo is also known as Ca' dei Cuori, a family whose wrought iron coats of arms is present on the façade.

History

Built in 1678 on the place where there was an ancient Gothic palace, of which only the corner columns survive, the Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi was a residence for many noble Venetian families. The building was initially commissioned by the

Correr The House of Correr or Corraro was a major Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician family in the history of the Republic of Venice. The family belonged to the Venetian nobility. History Said to have originated in Torcello, the family moved to ...

family, then it passed to the Soranzo,

Zorzi The House of Zorzi or Giorgi was a noble family of Venetian origin. They thrived in the Late Middle Ages, especially in the remnants of the Latin Empire in Greece, where they controlled the Margraviate of Bodonitsa and through marriage the Duc ...

, and

Contarini The House of Contarini is one of the founding families of Venicehttps://archive.org/details/teatroaraldicose02tett, Leone Tettoni. ''Teatro araldico ovvero raccolta generale delle armi ed insegne gentilizie delle piu illustri e nobili casate ...

families. In this palace lived Antonio Correr, known for being one of the few patricians who refused to wear a wig, then considered to be a status symbol of the noble classes. In the 20th century, the palace was owned by the de Mombell family; they added the terrace that concludes the façade. The building was recently renovated.

Architecture

The palace offers an impressive 17th-century façade with two imposing monumental water portals, decorated by bow-shaped heads. The portals have main openings surrounded by quadrangular windows; their position symmetrical to that of the windows of the upper floors. There are two

noble floor The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hous ...

s of equal importance and of the same design. The floors are decorated with

trifora Trifora is a type of three-light window. The trifora usually appears in towers and belfries—on the top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings. Overview The trifora has three openings divided by two small colu ...

s with small balconies shifted to the left and flanked by pairs of single-light windows on the left and (double) on the right. The horizontal bands of

Istrian stone Istrian stone, ''pietra d'Istria'', the characteristic group of building stones in the architecture of Venice, Istria and Dalmatia, is a dense type of impermeable limestones that was quarried in Istria, nowadays Croatia; between Portorož and Pu ...

underline the symmetry and harmony of all the elements. The facade terminates with a white

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

, which delimits an extensive roof terrace and is supported by a

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

ed cornice. There are neoclassical frescoes inside the palazzo.

Gallery

Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi Canal Grande Venezia.jpg, View from Grand Canal Venezia_Palazzo_Correr_Contarini_Zorzi_2.jpg, Back facade Campiello_del_Remier_Cannaregio_Canal_Grande_Venezia.jpg, Neighboring building Canal-Grande-Biasio-20050524-007.jpg, Panoramic view of Grand Canal

References

{{coord, 45.44272, 12.32725, format=dms, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Houses completed in the 17th century Correr Contarini Zorzi Correr Contarini Zorzi Renaissance architecture in Venice