When I think about Venice, the first thing I get in my mind is that I'm talking about a completely different city than what you are used to see in Europe with all the methods of transport being done on the water, hence why an experience with a Gondola is definitely a must try.
Either way, while we failed to book a ride for a gondola because it was both expensive and off-season so we couldn't enjoy one of those sunny and warm days while being on the water, we concluded that Venice is a lot more than that for sure.
Therefore, after two full days exploring more sides of Venice starting with the sunrise and returning home when it was already night outside, our hearts were forever conquered by the specific architecture that makes you turn your head from one building to another no matter if those represent a tourist attraction or not.
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It was already a bit over 5 PM when we finished exploring San Marco which is perhaps a name that more people who went to Venice remember about, just because it represents the heart of the city and the home to some of the most iconic sights someone can enjoy while in Venice.
Since there was a bit more time until the night was settling, we decided to roam around San Marco, ending up on some very narrow streets. If you've been to Venice, then you can relate to those narrow streets that promise nothing but offer everything. It's basically the best way to get lost with no expectations but welcome everything with your heart wide open when being surprised by lots of cool buildings.
If you know a bit of Italian, then what you will see on the little panel from the image attached above will be a pretty good spoiler to figure out what you are going to see around the corner. But as none I or my family understand this language, I thought that was the name of the street, lol.
Either way, after just around 10 meters of walking in the narrow passage, we ended up in front of one of those buildings that are hard to ever forget.
Its full name is Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo but it's also known as Scala Contarini del Bovolo which is also what was written on the little board, where 'scala' means 'stairs'.
This is quite a suggestive name for the building which even though it represents a palace, is mainly formed of stairs which represent the biggest point of interest. So I guess it's fair enough to consider the name Scala Contarini del Bovolo too.
Not sure how people usually interpret when hearing about a palace or a castle, but my mind always flies to their past and yet the history that I am about to discover. Sadly or not, Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo was the first palace I've visited that is not famous for its past nor its architecture, but actually for the stairs mentioned before which take you gradually to a world seen from the top.
Hence why, seeing the palace from the outside and even entering the garden for a closer look comes at no cost, while following all the way up comes with a fee that needs to be paid.
As much as I'd have loved this experience, we got plenty of views from the top admiring Venice at no cost, and made no sense to pay for a ticket with this purpose especially since we arrived just a few minutes before being closed and would rush our exploration even more. But if you are a fan of this kind of view and experience, go for it. You will have a nice perspective of San Marco that perhaps you won't find in other place.
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Obviously, we couldn't leave before entering the county yard and seeing how this one welcomes the ones crossing the palace's threshold, but we couldn't find out much as there were no informative panels.
With this thought, I'm assuming that the elements placed on the grass are either pieces of history but without having interest in becoming a center of attention for the palace, or they might be part of a temporary exhibition which I heard is hosted from time to time.
An interesting thing is that the palace itself dates from the 16th century while the stairs were implemented one century later by an architect who's name is Giovanni Candi who also came up with the idea to have the palace entitled Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo which means The Spiral Palace. A pretty obvious change that was going to make the palace be recognized further only because he added the stairs following a spiral shape. Not sure if it's a good or greedy thing, but it does look pretty interesting overall, competing with many other famous buildings with a nice architecture from Venice.
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The style of architecture design the palace followed is half Gothic and half Renaissance and what makes it even more unique is that the palace can't be observed from any part of the city unless you follow the narrow path we also followed, while this one manages to give the visitors a full new perspective over San Marco.
I'd like to compare this one to a saying that I absolutely love, namely, the shy people who observe everything but are never observed by others.
Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is 28 meters in height and composed of 5 different floors that can be crossed in 80 steps only, speaking about a fairly narrow tower.
The full address of the palace is Scala Contarini del Bovolo, 4303, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy and can be reached only by walking since there are no public transports taking tourists from one place to another. Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is placed equidistant from Rialto - the economic center of Venice, and from San Marco - the political heart of Venice.
Other places I've seen during my trip in Venice:
- Rialto Bridge
- Narrow Streets And Hidden Cannals Of Venezia
- Shop Windows of Venice
- Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
more coming soon...
Gabriela Travels is the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (260+ articles written on this field), but also abording other topics as well, like game reviews, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 550+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, editing, cooking, and doing various sports activities.
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