The Fondaco della Farina, currently the headquarters of the Venice
Port Authority, near Piazza San Marco, takes its name from its
original use as a "fondaco" warehouse for the storage of ground
cereals as food supplies for the city of Venice (1500 - 1700 ).
Inside the warehouse it was possible for everyone to sell flour,
while the same was forbidden outside. The flour warehouse was built in
1492 to expand the previous one which was by now too small. Painted by
various painters such as Canaletto, the flour warehouse also became a
painting academy in the 1700s while retaining a part for resale of
flour.