Palazzo dei Dieci Savi is a palace on the

Canal Grande The Grand Canal ( it, Canal Grande ; vec, Canal Grando, anciently ''Canałasso'' ) is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. One end of the canal leads into the lagoon near the Santa Luci ...

Venice 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 isla ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is included in the ''

sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, Mi ...

'' (quarter) of

San Polo San Polo ( vec, San Poło) is the smallest and most central of the six sestieri of Venice, northern Italy, covering 86 acres (35 hectares) along the Grand Canal. It is one of the oldest parts of the city, having been settled before ...

, and is not far from the

Rialto Bridge The Rialto Bridge ( it, Ponte di Rialto; vec, Ponte de Rialto) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the ' (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its fi ...

, on the opposite side from the

Palazzo dei Camerlenghi Palazzo dei Camerlenghi is a Renaissance palazzo in Venice, northern Italy, located in the ''sestiere'' (quarter) of San Polo. It faces the Canal Grande, adjacent to the Rialto Bridge. History Viewed from the terrace of the Fondaco dei Tedes ...

. It was built in the first half of the 16th century, under design of Antonio Abbondi. It was the seat of the '' Dieci Savi alle Decime'', the magistrates in charge of the finances of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, maintaining this function until the end of the latter in 1797. Until 2014 it housed the city's water officers ('' Magistrato alle Acque'').

Description

The palace has a longer façade on the Ruga (alley) degli Osei and a shorter one on the Canal Grande. The former has a portico with 37 arcades, whose ceiling, with

cross vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...

s, is covered by frescoes, most of which are preserved in a good state. The two upper floors, divided by two thick frames, feature 37

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed windows with undecorated stone frames. At the top is a notched frame in correspondence with the attic. The façade on the canal is similar: It has four arcades at the bottom and five pairs of rectangular mullioned windows at the upper floors. The only decorative elements are the 16th-century statue of Justice (second floor) at the corner, and a bas-relief with a Lion of St. Mark (1848), dating to the short-lived Republic of St. Mark (1848).

Sources

* {{Coord, 45.438342, 12.335487, scale:2000, format=dms, display=title Dei Dieci Savi Dei Dieci Savi Renaissance architecture in Venice