Ca' Farsetti (or Palazzo Dandolo Farsetti) is a Venetian palace, located in the San Marco district and overlooking the Grand Canal, not far from the Rialto Bridge. It is the seat, together with the adjoining Ca' Loredan, of the town hall of the lagoon city.
The palace was built in the thirteenth century by the descendants of
the doge Enrico Dandolo, with only two floors.
Federigo Contarini,
who bought the building in 1440, had it enlarged in height, bringing it
to its current size.
Around 1670 it passed to the family that
gave it its name, the Farsettis, who during the eighteenth century set
up a sort of cultural center open to intellectuals, artists, citizens
and foreign tourists. In the "museum" there was a very rich collection
of art pieces from various periods and origins, completed by a
well-stocked library.
The last member of the family was Anton
Francesco who, burdened with debts, closed the gallery in 1788 and began
to alienate the works kept there. Immediately blocked by the State
Inquisitors, he was able to resume sales after the fall of the
Serenissima.
Died in 1808, the palace was bought at auction by
the widow Andriana da Ponte as a dowry creditor. For a certain time, the
"Great Britain" hotel was located there, but in 1826 it was sold to the
municipal administration of Venice, which the following year used it as
a municipal residence, a role it still plays today.
The facade of Palazzo Farsetti presents a building arranged on three
levels plus a mezzanine: the first two are those of the original
nucleus, with a Venetian-Byzantine style loggia at the level of the
canal; only in 1892 was the top floor added.
The central ground floor
has a portico enclosed by five round arches, supported by four
Corinthian columns, structurally similar to that of the adjacent Ca'
Loredan, to which Ca' Farsetti is connected, on the left side, via an
"overpass". The noble floor, the facade is characterized by fifteen
round arched openings with a long balustrade marking the two levels.
Inside we note the staircase in the right wing, due to the work that the
Farsettis commissioned in the eighteenth century and the hall on the
noble floor with stuccos from the same century.