A five-story spiral staircase of unique beauty.
It is the staircase of the Contarini del Bovolo Palace, located near Campo Manin, in the San Marco district. 4299
It is an example of Venetian architecture in transition from the late Gothic to the Renaissance style.
The imagination of the Venetians was so struck by the unique design of this staircase — which gave the palace its distinctive character — that the nickname “Bovolo” soon came to identify a branch of the Contarini family itself.
The most impressive and remarkable spiral staircase in Venice.
Over the centuries, the Palace — whose history spans five centuries of Venetian life — changed hands many times.
Many tenants lived there, not always in luxury, within the spaces of this “casa fontego” characterized by a clear late-Gothic style.
Toward the end of the 15th century, the Palace was enriched by a “bizarre and graceful” spiral staircase (in Venetian dialect, “bovolo”, from which the name comes), commissioned by Pietro Contarini, a member of the powerful Contarini family of the San Paternian branch.
In the 14th century, this family had the honor of providing the Republic with a Doge — Andrea Contarini.
It is precisely to the 14th century that the original construction of the building is generally dated.
A must-see.
