Ca' d'Oro Venice

Also known as Ca' d'Oro

The Ca' d'Oro (Golden House) on the Grand Canal was originally covered in gold leaf, ultramarine, and vermillion; all the gilding had vanished by 1600, but the name stayed. A 19th-century renovation by an architect named Trubetzkoi was so destructive that he was imprisoned for vandalism.

The Ca’ d’Oro is the most ornate Gothic palace on Venice’s Grand Canal, built in 1428 and originally gilded with gold leaf that had completely disappeared by 1600. The Galleria Franchetti inside holds Mantegna’s St. Sebastian and works by Titian and Giorgione, assembled by Baron Giorgio Franchetti who restored the severely damaged palace in the late 19th century and donated it to Italy in 1916. Entry costs around EUR 8; open Tuesday-Sunday 8:15am to 7:15pm. Reach it by Vaporetto line 1 to the Ca’ d’Oro stop.