Palazzo Orio Semitecolo Benzon is a Venetian civil building located in the Dorsoduro district and overlooking the Grand Canal between Casa Santomaso and Casa Salviati.
Built by the Orio family, of very ancient nobility, the palace was unified with Palazzo Salviati when this was built during the 20th century. On January 24, 1894, the American writer Constance Fenimore Woolson probably jumped from its windows and died here.
The facade, mainly characterized by Gothic forms, has different
characteristics on each floor: the first noble floor follows the typical
stylistic features of the 14th century, the second those of the 15th
century, while the top floor was added during the 19th century. The
noble floor is characterized by an airy hexaphora, composed of a
quadrifora to which two single-lancet windows supported by pillars and
bearing a projecting balcony are juxtaposed.
The earth portal is
in a toothed frame and bears a shield of the Benzoni family, dating back
to the 14th-15th century, made of Istrian stone.