Ca’ Rezzonico - Dorsoduro - Venice - Buildings and Monuments

Ca’ Rezzonico is a large building that looks down onto the Grand Canal and which is now home to the Eighteenth Century Museum in Venice. The original design of the building was commissioned by the Priuli-Bon family and was carried out by Baldassare Longhena during the first half of the 17th century. Around 1745, another floor was added to the building, just as the Rezzonico family, the new owners of the building, wished. Some classical elements have been used on the façade, as they were much in fashion at the time. They match the rooms and the interior decorating. The large staircase can be reached from the entrance hall on the ground floor: this is one of the most magnificent entrances in the entire city. Ca’ Rezzonico was bought by the English poet Robert Browning and then by the Baron Hirschel de Minerby, the last private owner. The building was then acquired by the City Council (1925) and was turned into a museum.