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Ca' Loredan is a 13th-century Romanesque-style former palace of the Loredan family located on the Grand Canal in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, northern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It is located in the ''
sestiere A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed a ...
'' (district) of
San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...
and faces the Grand Canal, not far from the
Rialto Bridge The Rialto Bridge (; ) 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 first construction as a pontoon bridge in 1 ...
. Together with the annexed
Ca' Farsetti Ca' Farsetti is a palace in Venice, Italy. It is located in the ''sestiere'' (district) of San Marco, and faces the Grand Canal, not far from the Ponte di Rialto. The neighboring building is Palazzo Cavalli. History The palace was built in t ...
, it is currently home to the city's municipal council.


History

Ca' Loredan was built in the 13th century as a Venetian-Byzantine fondaco for the Boccasi family, which died out in the 15th century. According to some historians, it became the residence of
Doge Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to: Internet culture * Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed ** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme ** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...
Jacopo Contarini after he retired to private life, and passed to the Zane family. In the following centuries it was enlarged and heavily modified, by the Cornaro Piscopia family, who took possession of it during the fourteenth century according to the will of Federico Corner, the richest merchant of his time. The most significant restructuring was carried out during the sixteenth century. In 1646, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia was born there, a philosopher, who went down in history for being the first female graduate in history: she received this title on 25 June 1678. The event, which had a wide international impact, is commemorated by a marble plaque. In 1703 it became the home of the Loredan family, who obtained it thanks to a marriage between a daughter of Girolamo Corner and Giovanni Battista Loredan. It became the property of Countess Campagna Peccana in 1816 and was transformed into a hotel. In 1867 it passed to the municipality of Venice and became the seat of the city hall together with
Ca' Farsetti Ca' Farsetti is a palace in Venice, Italy. It is located in the ''sestiere'' (district) of San Marco, and faces the Grand Canal, not far from the Ponte di Rialto. The neighboring building is Palazzo Cavalli. History The palace was built in t ...
.


Architecture

Ca' Loredan is a building whose oldest nucleus is in the Venetian-Byzantine style, being among the buildings on the Grand Canal that most preserve its traces despite the renovations. The ground floor has a central
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
closed by five raised arches, supported by four
Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...
, above which, on the
noble floor (Italian language, Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a ''palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedro ...
, there is a heptaphora (seven windows) in the same style. On the two sides of the portico, symmetrically, there are two round windows, which correspond to a three-light window on the main floor. This hole is closed by mostly circular
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
decorations. The second piano nobile, which, albeit at the rear, attempts to emulate the style of the first, is characterized by a large central multi-lancet window, echoed by lateral single-lancet windows. The building, whose right side is characterized by the presence of numerous single lancet windows and the earth portal, is distinguished by having four overpasses that connect it to Ca' Farsetti. At the rear, it has a long courtyard that separates the two secondary wings: numerous arched openings overlook it and it houses various wells. The main floor contains the Council Hall, which houses works of art by Benedetto Caliari,
Gregorio Lazzarini Gregorio Lazzarini (1657 – 10 November 1730) was an Italians, Italian painter of mythological, religious and historical subjects, as well as portraits. One of the most successful Venetian artists of the day, a prominent teacher, and father to ...
and
Bonifazio Veronese Bonifazio Veronese, born Bonifazio de' Pitati (1487 – 19 October 1553), was a Venetian Renaissance painter who was active in the Venetian Republic. His work had an important influence on the younger generation of painters in Venice, particu ...
.


Use in fiction

This is one of the potential locations of the Banco di Niccolò in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolò series.


Bibliography

* Marcello Brusegan, ''La grande guida dei monumenti di Venezia''. Rome, Newton & Compton, 2005. . * ''Guida d'Italia – Venezia''. 3ª ed. Milan, Touring Editore, 2007. . * Marcello Brusegan, I Palazzi di Venezia, Rome, Newton & Compton, 2007, .


References

{{reflist Loredan Loredan Romanesque architecture in Venice Loredan Houses completed in the 15th century * * City and town halls in Italy Romanesque palaces in Italy