Ca' d'Oro, Gothic palace in Cannaregio, Italy.
Ca' d'Oro is a Gothic palace on the Grand Canal in the Cannaregio district of Venice, Italy, now serving as a museum. The facade shows white marble with pointed arches, openwork balconies, and cloverleaf windows facing the water.
Marino Contarini had the palace built between 1421 and 1437 on the foundations of a Zeno family house he received through his marriage to Soradamore Zeno. Architects Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon worked with Milanese sculptor Matteo Raverti, who made the main loggia tracery. After the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797 the palace changed owners repeatedly; Baron Giorgio Franchetti bought it in 1894 and left it to the Italian state in 1922, becoming the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti in 1927.
The building once gleamed with gold and color, though today only the white stonework and openwork balconies show the early 15th-century Venetian craftsmanship. Inside, visitors find paintings and sculptures assembled by the last owner from his private collection.
The palace stands on the left bank of the Grand Canal in Cannaregio, and its water entrance opens through the ground-floor loggia onto a gondola landing. Behind the facade a small inner courtyard holds a wellhead carved by Bartolomeo Bon and a small garden. Baron Giorgio Franchetti is buried in that courtyard beneath a half-column of ancient porphyry.
The name comes from the gold leaf decorations that once covered the outer walls and gave the building a shimmering appearance from the canal. This gilding has long disappeared, but the name still recalls its earlier splendor.
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