Page 28 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

26  INTRODUCING VENICE AND THE VENE T O

The Venetian Palazzo

Venetian houses evolved to meet the needs of a city without
roads. Visitors usually arrived by boat, so the façade facing
the canal was given lavish architectural treatment, while the
landward side, which was accessible from a square or alley, was
rarely so ornate. Most Venetian houses were built with three
storeys, with kitchens located on the ground floor for ready
access to water, or in the attic to enable cooking smells to escape.
Typically, a palazzo served as a warehouse and business premises, Renaissance doorcase
as well as a family home, reflecting the city’s mercantile character. with lion

Byzantine (12th and Façade carvings Byzantine
13th Centuries) feature the owner’s horseshoe-
coat of arms and the
The earliest surviving private Lion of St Mark. shaped arches
palazzi in Venice date from the
13th century and reflect the
architectural influence of the
Byzantine world. Façades are
recognizable by their ground-
floor arcades and arched open Byzantine roundel,
galleries which run the entire Fondaco dei Turchi
length of the first floor. Simple
motifs feature leaves or palm trees.
Cushion capitals have
only simple motifs.
Palazzo Loredan (see
p68) has an elegant
ground floor arcade and
first floor gallery typical
of a 13th-century
The Byzantine arcades of the Byzantine palace.
Fondaco dei Turchi (built 1225)

Gothic (13th to The interlacing ribs of Trefoil “three leaved”
Mid-15th Centuries) pointed ogee arches window heads are
create a delicate tracery. typically Gothic.
Elaborate Gothic palazzi are
more numerous than any
other style in Venice. Most
famous of all is the Doge’s
Palace (see pp88–93), with Quatrefoil patterns on
elegant arches in Istrian elegant gallery
stone and fine tracery which windows
give the façade a delicate,
lace-like appearance. This Gothic capitals are
style, emulated throughout adorned with foliage,
the city, can be identified animals and faces.
through its use of pointed
arches and carved
window heads.
Ca’ Foscari (see p70) is a
fine example of the 15th-
century Venetian Gothic
style, with its finely carved Gothic capitals
white Istrian stone façade. (Doge’s Palace)

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