Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, Palace museum in San Marco, Venice, Italy
Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is a palace museum in the San Marco district of Venice, known for its exterior spiral staircase tower. The tower is built in Istrian stone and rises through several levels of open arcades, supported by alternating round and square columns.
The palace was built in the 14th century in the Gothic style and belonged to the Contarini, a noble Venetian family. The spiral tower was added at the end of the 15th century, giving the building the form it has today.
The name Bovolo comes from the Venetian dialect word for snail, referring to the shape of the outer staircase. Visitors climbing the staircase pass through open arcades with rounded arches that gradually reveal the rooftops around them.
Yellow signs pointing to the Scala Contarini del Bovolo guide visitors through the surrounding alleys to the entrance. The palace sits just off the main routes near Saint Mark's Square and is easy to reach on foot from most of the nearby sights.
The interior rooms of the palace are generally not open to visitors, meaning the staircase tower is effectively the whole visit. From the small lookout at the top, you can spot the Campanile of Saint Mark's Square and the basilica of San Giovanni e Paolo among the rooftops.
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