# Scala Contarini del Bovolo

> This file is a plain-text rendition of a page on mytuur.com, generated from the same data as the HTML version.

Canonical page: https://mytuur.com/en/city/venice/spot/scala-contarini-del-bovolo/

Content updated: 2026-06-22

Scala Contarini del Bovolo forms a distinctive spiral staircase beside the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo in Venice. Its Venetian name means “snail”, matching the staircase’s shell-like spiral. Istrian stone and exposed brick carry the staircase through a cylindrical tower. The stone steps wind counterclockwise through the tower.

Pietro Contarini added the staircase to the palace as a decorative feature during the Renaissance. The palace originally served as a fontego house. Late Gothic and early Renaissance elements shape the palace, whose facades face Calle del Bovolo and Rio de San Luca Rossini. Rialto and San Marco once framed its setting. At the top, arches and small loggias connect the staircase with the palace, while the belvedere overlooks Venice’s rooftops. The belvedere opens across Venice and the lagoon.

Ernst Wilhelm Tempel observed the sky from the tower and discovered a comet and the Merope Nebula. Orson Welles used the staircase for his film Othello.

- City: [Venice](https://mytuur.com/en/city/venice/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ScalaContarinidelBovolo_68507937717a3e13abd51ded_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scala_Contarini_del_Bovolo_\(51350891696\).jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ScalaContarinidelBovolo_68507937717a3e13abd51ded_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palazzo_Contarini_del_Bovolo_IMG_3768.JPG)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ScalaContarinidelBovolo_68507937717a3e13abd51ded_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palazzo_Contarini_del_Bovolo,_San_Marco,_Venezia,_Italy.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_ScalaContarinidelBovolo_68507937717a3e13abd51ded_3.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Contarini_del_Bovolo_\(Snail_House\)_in_Venice_-_panoramio.jpg)

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Venice. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

## What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.