Palazzo Dandolo

Palazzo Dandolo stands in Venice as a Gothic palace shaped by centuries of changing uses. Its pointed arches and Gothic gate mark the façade. Pink marble, gold-leaf ceilings and columns, and Murano-glass chandeliers shape the interiors. Two exhibition rooms on the piano nobile overlook the Grand Canal, linking historic architecture with cultural displays.

The Dandolo family commissioned the palace in the fourteenth century, and several family members became Venetian doges. In 1630, Monteverdi’s The Rape of Proserpine received Venice’s first opera performance here. In 1638, Marco Dandolo opened public assembly and gaming rooms, creating the Ridotto Pubblico, Venice’s first public casino. Masked carnival visitors gathered for games, refreshments and lively encounters before Bernardino Maccaruzzi and Jacopo Guarana remodelled the rooms in 1768. The Grand Council closed the Ridotto in 1774 after gambling ruined many fortunes.

In 1822, the building became a hotel welcoming writers, musicians and artists including Balzac, Proust, Dickens, Ruskin, Debussy and Wagner. Its deep pink façade still marks the Riva degli Schiavoni. Francesco Guardi preserved the former gaming hall in a painting filled with elegant, masked figures and chandeliers.