Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo - Views and History

 

On our last morning in Venice I ducked over to the famous bookshop and realised I still had time to loop round to Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, and easy 11 minute walk. As an aside, it's only a 5 minute walk from La Fenice so when planing a morning, you could easily do those two together.

This Palazzo is a favourite because of the striking staircase, and of course the views from the top. It is, however steeped in history and houses something quite special.

Built in the 1500s, it was so unusual, it became known as the snail (Bovolo being an old Venetian word for snail), and the family who built it, the Contarini's, became ever associated with their spiral...The building became so famous that both the street and courtyard got named after it.

The staircase was a later edition - a spiral staircase maximises use on precious mimimal space in Venice, and this additon also works with the different sized stories on the palazzo. The bottom loggia are double the size of the top ones.

While the views from the top and the unsual staircase are the tourist draw, the details of the staircase are charming so it's worth taking in the workmanship and detail of the design.

While the staircase was built to showcase the family's wealth at the time, there's an equally valuable work inside. On the second floor there are exhibitions - when I went there was one merging glass and fashion. All showcased around the huge Tintoretto. These exhibitions change frequently but make sure you stop in. I was the only person who ventured into the gallery, everyone else just wanting the Insta photos on the stairs. 

This Tintoretto is different to the ones housed in Madrid and the Louvre in Paris. It is one of 4 sketches of Paradise and it differs from the others with the globe in the centre of the picture.

I am struggling to find the website which tells you off the current exhibitions (will amend if I find it)

The garden also houses a number of wells from various periods.

People say it's hard to find but I thought it was pretty clearly sign posted and google maps was straight forward. However I was lucky that there were few people there when it opened so I only had to wait a short amount of time to get the gazebo to myself.












And that was worth climbing more than 100 stairs for!

Practicalities:

Opening hours and tickets here.

 Scala Contarini Del Bovolo

Atlas Obscura

Further Reading:

Views from Palazzo Canova's Roof Terrace Bar

Liberia Acqua Alta Veniza

Teatro La Fenice

History & Architecture of Palazzo Contarini Del Bovolo

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