Description of the attraction
Palazzo Giustinian is a luxurious palace located in the Dorsoduro district of Venice near the famous Ca 'Foscari house. Overlooking the Grand Canal, this palace is considered one of the finest examples of late Venetian Gothic. It was here that the last resting place of the French princess Louise Maria Theresa was located.
The building of the Palazzo was built at the end of the 15th century, probably with the participation of the sculptor and architect Bartolomeo Bona. Initially, the palace consisted of two separate buildings, each of which belonged to different branches of the Justinian family, and later both were connected by means of a central section - the facade. Today these buildings are known as Ca 'Justinian dei Veskovi, which now houses a branch of the University of Ca' Foscari, and Ca 'Justinian dalle Zoggie, which is privately owned. Behind the façade, both buildings are still separated from each other by a narrow calle alley, which joins the central portal through the sottoportego portico tunnel.
The Giustinian family sold the Palazzo in the 19th century. In that century, such famous people as the artist Natale Schiavoni, the German composer Richard Wagner, who wrote the second act of Tristana and Isolde here, and the last Duchess of Parma, Louise Maria Theresa d'Artois, lived in this magnificent palace.
Palazzo Giustinian and the adjacent Ca'Foscari combine numerous decorative elements. They are both L-shaped with four floors, and the upper floors are decorated with vaulted windows. On the so-called "drunken nobile" floor, the windows of both palaces form six-arch arcades with intertwining floral motifs. A Gothic staircase can be seen in the backyard of Ca 'Justinian dei Vescovi, and a large garden is laid out behind Ca' Justinian dei Zoggie.
