Palazzo Correr Contarini

The Palazzo Correr già Contarini stands on the Strada Nova in Venice’s Cannaregio district, facing the Campo Santa Fosca. Built in the 15th century in the Venetian Gothic style, it was commissioned by the Contarini family, who produced the most doges of any Venetian clan. The palace originally consisted of two connected 15th-century buildings, later altered by the Correr family after their purchase in the 17th century. Andrea Tirali designed the baroque-style remodelling of the smaller structure, though work stalled and was never completed. The main entrance lies beside Santa Fosca church, while a side door opens onto the Rio della Maddalena, accessible only by boat.

The palace has two storeys above the ground floor, with the first floor the most elaborately decorated. Today it houses the Istituto Romeno di Cultura e Ricerca Umanistica, which first occupied a single room here in 1928. By 1930 the institute had expanded to 25 rooms, but financial difficulties forced its closure in 1940. Venice’s city council later asked Romania to reopen the institute, and in 1992 the Casa Romena reopened under its current name. Its library now holds more than twelve thousand volumes.

Inside, visitors find a grand first-floor hall with fine stucco and frescoes, though many artworks were lost after Napoleon’s era. A ceiling painting by Giambattista Tiepolo was removed and later destroyed in Cologne during the Second World War. Two surviving friezes by his son Giandomenico were moved to the Palazzo Contarini Polignac, where they remain. Outside, the Campo Santa Fosca offers a quiet square with the statue of Paolo Sarpi, a reminder of the city’s intellectual past.