Palazzo Foscarini ai Carmini is a palace in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district, opposite the Carmini church and a few steps from Ca' Zenobio degli Armeni. It is located next to Palazzo Vendramin.
The residence of the Foscarini ai Carmini was built in the 16th
century and housed this branch of the family until its extinction, which
made it pass to the Foscarini a San Stae.
The Renaissance
structure was enlarged in the 18th century, by the will of the most
illustrious exponent that the family had, the doge Marco Foscarini, a
man of culture who, on this occasion, had the building that housed his
library arranged in the garden.
In the early twentieth century,
part of the large park of the building was occupied by housing and by
Palazzo Malcanton Marcorà (one of the headquarters of the Ca' Foscari
University of Venice), which compromised its original layout.
Today Palazzo Foscarini is still private and some parts of it are the
Venetian headquarters of the Belgian consulate.
Palazzo Foscarini is a set of buildings arranged in an L shape, with
the facade facing that of the Carmini church, on the Santa Margherita
stream, and connected to the Carmini square through the Foscarini
bridge; the main building (from the 16th century) was enlarged in the
first half of the 18th century, adding to the older structure the
adjoining body of the building (ancient Carmelite convent, partially
enlarged by one floor) and the perpendicular one facing Calle dei
Ragusei.
The main facade consists of three parts, two similar to
the right and a lateral one to the left. The two similar blocks are
characterized by the presence of two orders of serliane on the main
floors, flanked by rectangular single-light windows surmounted by small
square windows, all inserted in stone elements.
The serliane are all
equipped with a balustrade, protruding only on the first floor; the
columns of the first floor are of the Ionic order, those of the second
of the Doric order. The serliane are presented with the arch walled up
for reasons of support, an operation that has become necessary since the
seventeenth century.
At the top the building is crossed by an
indented cornice.
The interiors, arranged over six floors (due to
the presence of a mezzanine per floor), preserve on the first noble
floor valuable frescoed ceilings from the seventeenth century and traces
of eighteenth-century stucco.
The internal facade overlooks a
large garden, once the venue for receptions and the important Foscarini
Library, whose structure is still visible on the north side of the
garden: it is a small neoclassical building, with the facade embellished
with sculptural elements and tall columns; it was the private library of
Doge Foscarini.