Venice: The Meeting of East and West - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 87

Figure 6.4. Grand Canal
The palaces ( palazzi ) of Venice testify to bygone wealth. If money is crystallized
wealth, palaces are surely crystallized money. One guidebook lists 130 palazzi that await
the ambitious traveler's attention. Most, however, will settle for a handful of those on the
Grand Canal. With an inverse modesty often affected by the super-rich (the “cottages”
of Newport, Rhode Island, for example), some palaces are merely “houses.” Ca' d'Oro
(Golden House) is one of the most celebrated.
Today many palazzi are used as business offices. Others house government bureaus.
Many remain in private hands, replete with elegant furnishings. Each has a history dating
back several centuries, its architectural style reflecting that history. The most attractive
palaces are not always the largest. Typically, the palace is crowned with a tile roof and is
entered directly from the Grand Canal through a distinctive doorway. Many palaces still
have the colors of the livery painted on the mooring post outside the door. In former times,
gondolas could be pulled through the doorway and set down on the canal-level floor, the
andron. Above the andron is the piano nobile, the sumptuous reception and state rooms
of the palace owners. If the architect worked in the Palladian Renaissance style (Andrea
Palladio, 1508-80), the facade divides into three stories, the topmost being the most ornate,
with tall windows sometimes recessed and fronted by balconies.