Palazzo Orio Semitecolo Benzon is a Gothic 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 ...
, built in the 14th century. The palazzo is located in the
Dorsoduro
Dorsoduro is one of the six sestieri of Venice, in northern Italy.
Dorsoduro includes the highest land areas of the city and also Giudecca island and Isola Sacca Fisola. Its name derives from the Italian for "hard ridge", due to its comparati ...
district and overlooks the
Grand Canal between Casa Santomaso and
Casa Salviati.
History
Built by the Orio family of ancient nobility, the palace was united with
Palazzo Salviati when it was built during the 20th century.
Architecture
The facade, mainly characterized by Gothic forms of the 14th and 15th centuries, has different features on each floor. The first
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 ...
has a
hexafora composed of four balustrated windows and two side
monofora
Monofora is a type of the single-light window, usually narrow, crowned by an arch, and decorated by small columns or pilasters.
Overview
The term usually refers to a certain type of window designed during the Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance ...
s supported by pillars and projecting balconies. The second noble floor has a
bifora
The bifora or ''pifara'' was a Sicilian double reed instrument of the oboe family, related to the ancient shawm and particularly to the piffero of the northern Italian Apennines. Much larger than the piffero, and made in one piece, it was employed ...
, supported by a projecting balcony, on the left and two monoforas on the right. The top floor was added in the 19th century and is rather featureless.
The water portal has a dentiled frame and bears a shield of the Benzoni family, dating back to the 14-15th centuries and made of the
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 ...
.
Gallery
Palazzo Orio Salviati Barbaro Wolkoff Canal Grande Venezia.jpg, Palazzi Orio, Salviati, and Barbaro; facades on Grand Canal.
Orio semitecolo.JPG, Details of the facade
References
{{Authority control
Houses completed in the 14th century
Palaces in Sestiere Dorsoduro
Gothic architecture in Venice