Palazzo Soranzo Cappello is a palace in Venice, located in the Santa Croce district (770), near Palazzo Gradenigo. It is the seat of the Superintendency for architectural heritage and landscape for the provinces of Venice, Belluno, Padua and Treviso.
The palace was erected in the late 16th century, in the manner then
in vogue by Michele Sanmicheli and by the will of the powerful Soranzo
family.
Subsequently it passed to numerous families, of which we
remember, in the name, that of the Cappello. For a time it was used as a
barracks.
After a few decades of abandonment in the 20th century,
the building was restored and is currently the seat of the
Superintendence for Architectural Heritage and Landscape.
The facade, facing the Rio Marin, is arranged on three levels with a
mezzanine. The two noble floors have an elegant serliana in the center
in white stone inserts, with balustrades. The different floors are
marked by string course frames, which stand out against the pink
plaster. The top rises centrally, to end in a tympanum.
Two small
chimneys replace what were originally two high pinnacles.
Internally the building has valuable pictorial and decorative works.
Noteworthy is the garden, which was taken into consideration in some
writings by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio and the writer Henry James: in
fact, the Cappello palace seems to be the one in which the story of The
Aspern Papers (1888) is set.