Ca’ Dolfin is an excellent restaurant for quality (and quantity) of food, wine and for the superlative service offered with courtesy and high level professionalism. The high quality ingredients and the highly digestible and abundant dishes take you on a superb gastronomic journey. The right price compensates for the fact that the place is small but nice, with the possibility of dining on some tables in the adjacent square. The very friendly and well-trained Ca’ Dolfin’s staff will help you choose among the many dishes to be able to spend an excellent lunch or dinner in Venice.

Let the harmonious beatitude and charm that the Serenissima has saved over centuries seduce you, as precious gifts bestowed on its visitors. The discovery of Venice is an endless journey, whether it is your first time in this city, or whether its magical atmosphere has called you back here again. It is here that your day begins – after a good night’s sleep, with a delicious breakfast enjoyed in the garden or in our drawing room. Venice awaits you, ready to welcome you with its infinite possibilities and endless facets of inimitable beauty. Spend your day at the Lido beaches or explore the island of Murano, whatever you choose, the entire lagoon awaits you. Upon your return to the Hotel, in your Palace, you can enjoy the calm at the end of the day spending pleasant hours in the rooms on our piani nobili, at the bar or in the music room.

The Church of Madonna dell’Orto can quite rightly be called “Tintoretto’s church”: this great artist spent most of his life in the surroundings, he was buried here and his teleri full of pathos transfigure the interior. It was built in the 14th century but was renovated in the 15th century so in its tripartite façade in terracotta feature transition elements from Romanesque to Gothic and from Gothic to Renaissance style. The interior, with its basilical plan with three naves, boasts (from the right nave) St. John the Baptist between St. Peter, St. Mark, St. Jerome, and St. Paul by Cima da Conegliano, and the mystic Presentation of Mary at the Temple by Tintoretto. On the Presbytery wallshang majestically three large canvases by the same author: the Last Judgment, the Adoration of the Golden Calf and Moses Receives the Tables of the Law.

The teleri in the apse (Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, Courage) are by Tintoretto too. In the left aisle, note his Miracle of St. Agnes and Virgin Mary with Christ Child by Giovanni Bellini.

Opening hours: Monday-Saturday: 10.00-17.00 (ticket office closes at 4.45pm);

Closing: Sunday, December 25th, January 1st, Easter and August 15th.

Full ticket price: € 3

Reduced ticket price: € 1.50

The Confraternity of Santa Maria della Misericordia or Valverde, a Scuola Grande, was founded on the 8th of September 1261. In 1310 it obtained by the friars of the Abbazia della Misericordia the permission to build its headquarters next to the church. The works continued uninterruptedly until the beginning of the 16th century.

In 1451 a bas-relief of the Madonna by Bartolomeo Bon was placed over the portal of the façade (which was rebuilt at the beginning of 1441). Today it is in a London museum. Much attention was paid to the decoration of the interior and the ceiling of the Sala Superiore was enriched with 80 golden frames. The need for more space (at the beginning of the 16th century the members amounted to 612) lead to the creation of a new, larger and richer headquarter: in 1505 the old Scuola (Scuola Vecchia) was modified. Because of the poor economic situation, the building was rented to a merchant of fodder. In 1507 Alessandro Leopardi’s project was chosen for the new Scuola (Scuola Nuova della Misericordia) but 25 years later the building was no more than a foot high so in 1532 another project was commissioned to Sansovino, who raised the building till the first floor and in 1538 terminated the interior of the magnificent ground-floor hall. In 1624 they decided to sell the building. This happened only ten years later. The Guild of silk weavers maintained their headquarters in a very dignified way and in 1730 carried out a first important renovation, testified by a plaque in the Sala Superiore.

Ghetto is a Venetian word and the ghettos of the whole world owe their name to the small island completely surrounded by a ring of water where the Jews lived: Venice Ghetto.

HISTORY:

At the end of the 15th century the Republic, always ready to take advantage from situations, granted the Jews (who weren’t allowed to own anything and had therefore become money-lenders, small retailers, doctors and musicians) the right to live in a limited area of the city. From 1516 to 1797 they resided in an area characterized by the presence of cannon foundries, where the casting of metals (ghetto, or getto) was performed, hence the name Ghetto which was, therefore, born in Venice.

THE SINAGOGUES:

In Campo del Ghetto Nuovo stand the high multi-storey where the Jewish community was forced to live in such a limited area that high floors were cut into two and as many floors as possible were added. In the dense urban structure, some domes mark the presence of synagogues, ldings www.venezia.net Cannaregio 72 and can be identified by the presence of tall windows on the top floor. There are 7 of them and the most famous ones are the 3 most ancient ones, all settled in the aforementioned Campo: the Scuola Grande Tedesca (1528-29, renovated in the 18th century) the Scuola Canton (1931-32) and the Scuola Italiana (1575, renovated at the beginning of the 18th century).

Ca d’Oro ( Galleria Franchetti)  owes its name to the precious decorations in gold-leaf that used to cover the façade. It is a notable example of Venetian Gothic architecture and one of the most spectacular palaces on the Grand Canal.

HISTORY: Ca d’oro was commissioned in 1420 by the prosecutor Marino Contarini and was completed in 1440. After his death it was divided among his heirs. Since then Ca’ D’ Oro passed from one owner to the other undergoing internal transformations that determined a state of decay until, at the beginning of the 19th century, it fell in a state of semineglect and was subject to deturpation and robberies. In 1895 Baron Franchetti, a musician and collector from Turin, bought it and started to renovate it to accommodate his collections of paintings, sculptures and coins. In 1916 it gave the building and all its contents to the State. For this reason today it can be visited, as it hosts

GALLERIA FRANCHETTI

On top of the Franchetti collection (which includes paintings, especially from Tuscany and Central Italy) it hosts important pieces of art from the Veneto region, including the beautiful St. Sebastian by Mantegna, Venus with a Mirror by Titian, some Views of Venice by Guardi, sketches by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and frescoes by Pordenone.

It also hosts sculptures from some churches suppressed after the fall of the Republic, bronzes and medals from an ancient collection from Padua that had become property of the Republic, paintings and frescoes belonging to the State, and a collection of Flemish paintings including The Crucifixion by H. Van Eyck. A more recent acquisition includes several thousands of ceramics from the lagoon area dating from the 12th century, partly purchased and partly offered by casual finders.

Experts and scholars can also study the numismatic collection and the collection of medals (which are not exhibited). Admittedly, the Gallery does not contain the best works of art (the real masterpieces of the aforementioned artists are in other areas of the city), but it is worth visiting if only to observe the structure of the palaces on the Grand Canal, from the ground floor (that was used as a storehouse) to the higher floors where the owner lived with his family and carried out his business.