Palazzo Cavalli or Palazzo Corner Martinengo is a palace in Venice, located in the

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 ...

district and overlooking the Grand Canal. It locates not far from the

Ponte di Rialto 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 fir ...

, between Palazzo Corner Valmarana and Ca' Farsetti, in front of Palazzo Barzizza.

History

Built in the 16th century and remodeled in the following centuries, Palazzo Cavalli is known for having hosted the writer

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

in the 19th century. In the 16th century,

Bartolomeo d'Alviano Bartolomeo d'Alviano (c. 1455 – October 1515) was an Italian condottiero and captain who distinguished himself in the defence of the Venetian Republic against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. Biography Bartolomeo d'Alviano was born in 1455 ...

lived there, a mercenary leader of the Venetian Republic, who defended of the city against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. In 1521, the palace passed to the prominent

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

. Around 1830, the

Mocenigo family The House of Mocenigo was a Venetian noble family of Lombard Dalmatian origin. Many of its members were doges, statesmen, and soldiers. Notable members * Tommaso Mocenigo (1343-1423), ''doge'' 1414-1423 * Pietro Mocenigo, ''doge'' from 1474 ...

owned the palace. Later, the palazzo was owned by the Ravenna family of Venice from the early 1900s until 1957, later it was acquired and completely restored by Dr. Ennio Forti, who resided there for thirty years before selling it in 1989 to the Municipality of Venice. The palace is the current headquarters of the Tide Forecast and Reporting Center of the municipality of Venice and the venue for weddings.

Architecture

The facade is of three floors high. The ground floor has two portals on a small foundation overlooking the canal. Either of 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 features a

quadrifora Quadrifora is a type of four-light window. It appears in towers and belfries on top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings. The quadrifora can also be a group closely set windows. Overview The quadrifora is d ...

with balustrade, flanked by three single-light windows on each side with parapets. A small penthouse with terrace was added in more recent period and is located on the central part of the top of the building, above the thin notched cornice that runs through the attic.

References

{{Reflist Palaces in Sestiere San Marco Palaces on the Grand Canal (Venice) Buildings and structures completed in the 16th century Medieval Italian architecture Renaissance architecture in Venice

History

Architecture

See also

References