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Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo

Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo

Giovanni Candi & Giorgio Spavento

Photo: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Venice, Italy
Client / Owner
Contarini family
Year
Completed 1499
Access
Tickets required
Style
—

The Contarini family built Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo in Venice as one of their city residences. The article credits Giovanni Candi with designing and building the palazzo in its present form in the 15th century. It names no style or materials. The palazzo stands on a small street near Campo Manin, about halfway between Campo San Bartolo and Campo Santo Stefano.

Its best-known feature is the Scala Contarini del Bovolo, an external spiral staircase with many arches, which leads to an arcade with rooftop views. The article dates the staircase to 1499 and says Giorgio Spavento is believed to have added it, which makes that attribution less certain than Candi's credit for the palazzo.

Orson Welles used the palazzo as Brabantio's house in his 1952 film Othello. Restoration of the staircase began in August 2015, and it has been open again since February 2016.

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