Ca' D'Oro

 The Golden House of Venice

The Palazzo Santa Sofia, also known as the Ca d'Oro. Photo by Batintherain.

The Palazzo Santa Sofia, also known as the Ca d'Oro, is located  in the Cannaregio district, on the north bank of the Grand Canal.

Designed in the floral Gothic style, it  is widely considered to be one of Venice's most beautiful palaces. It was completed in 1430 for the influential Contarini family, eight of whose members were elected Doge of Venice.

The exterior was once decorated with gilt facing and the palace became known as the Ca d'Oro (house of gold) because of the golden shimmer created by the sun's reflection on its walls

The architects of the Ca d'Oro were Giovanni Bon and his son Bartolomeo. Bartolomeo also designed parts of the Doges Palace including the Porta Della Carta, and the monumental sculpture depicting the judgement of Solomon.

The principal entrance is by the Grand Canal, through an open-arched gallery, slightly recessed in order to create space for a mooring. The colonnaded balconies on the piani nobili comprise an intricate arrangement of balustrades, capitals and quatrefoil windows.

The Ca d'Oro is asymmetrical. It is uncertain whether this was the original intention or whether the construction of an additional  symmetrical wing was prevented by a shortage of funds.

The external decoration has largely been lost although the original coat-of-arms (1426), the balcony consoles and some polychrome marble incrustations remain.

The Ca d'Oro, like many Venetian houses, is built around an internal courtyard. The original Gothic wellhead, once an essential feature of every Venetian courtyard, has survived, and provides a rare example of an early 15th century "vera di pozzi".

The Porta della Carta also  by Bartolomeo Bon. Note the similar floral Gothic style. Photo by Radomil 26.09.2004. Image published under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.

The Ca d'Oro passed from the Contarini to the Marcelli and then to the Loredan family. It was poorly maintained after the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, and fell into a state of decay.

A rapid succession of owners occupied the palazzo during the 19^th century, several of whom committed gross acts of vandalism.  One, the ballet dancer Marie Taglioni, inexplicably removed the original Gothic stairwell, and demolished the ornate galleries which once overlooked the interior courtyard.

Fortunately the palace found a saviour in Baron Giorgio Franchetti. The baron acquired the Ca' d'Oro in 1894 and lovingly undertook its extensive restoration until his death in 1922. He bequeathed both the Ca d'Oro and his personal art collection to the Italian state.

The stairway, discarded by Marie Taglioni, has been fully restored and the Ca D’Oro is now a museum and art gallery. The exhibits mostly consist of pictures by Flemish and Italian renaissance masters, and the  remnants of the decorations which formerly graced the palace's façade.

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