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Ca' d'Oro

A Venetian Gothic palace on the Grand Canal, reshaped as Giorgio Franchetti’s museum.

  • Venice
  • Palace
Plan your visitSee tours
Where
Cannaregio 3932, Venice
Best for
Its openwork Gothic loggias
Allow
1 hour

On the Grand Canal, the Ca’ d’Oro is both a Venetian Gothic palace and the setting of a museum shaped by its collector. Marino Contarini commissioned its construction between 1421 and 1440, bringing together Lombard craftsmen led by Matteo Raverti and Venetian sculptors Giovanni Bon and his son Bartolomeo. The French painter Jean Charlier, known in Venice as Zuane de Franza, worked color into the marble and carved details: red, ultramarine blue, black, white lead and gold once marked the facade and pinnacles. That palette is gone, but the openwork loggias still give the palace its lace-like silhouette. Our Grand Canal guide places the palace among the waterway’s historic buildings; continue with our Venice city guide to plan the wider visit.

Giorgio Franchetti bought the palace in 1894 and donated the building and the nucleus of his collection to the Italian state in 1916; the museum opened in 1927. In the porticoed entrance atrium, his geometric opus sectile floor brings antique marbles into a design inspired by Venetian basilicas and Cosmatesque patterns. His first museum intervention was the so-called Mantegna Chapel, a marble-clad room arranged around Andrea Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian, which Franchetti acquired in 1893. In the courtyard, a pointed-arch stair was reassembled partly from original fragments, while the marble wellhead carved by Bartolomeo Bon dates to 1427. Read together, facade, atrium and chapel show the Gothic palace alongside Franchetti’s later vision for its collection.

Pale Gothic palace with three stacked open loggias beside neighbouring palaces, canal boats and mooring poles.
The palace among its canal-side neighbours, in a view based on a 2010 photograph.
Sources and citations (5)
  1. Direzione regionale Musei nazionali VenetoSede | Direzione regionale Musei nazionali VenetoCenni storici: Il Palazzo; Il Museo; La Cappella del Mantegna; La Corte; Il pavimento musivo.Read source
  2. Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro / BEST UNIONCome raggiungerci | Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’OroCome raggiungerci; Se arrivi a Venezia in treno; Cannaregio 3932.Read source
  3. Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro / BEST UNIONAccessibilità disabili | Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’OroAccessibilità disabili.Read source
  4. Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro / BEST UNIONBiglietti | Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’OroBiglietto museo; Per informazioni.Read source
  5. Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro / BEST UNIONPrenotazioni Online | Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’OroPrenotazioni Online; Per informazioni.Read source

Look closer

Oblique close view of pointed and trefoil loggia arches, narrow columns, balustrades and a solid marble wall with windows.
The openwork facadeThree loggia registers and the solid marble bay, based on a close view photographed in 2005.
Pale diagonal staircase over four pointed openings against brick walls, with a carved pink-brown wellhead on a square plinth.
Stair and wellheadThe courtyard stair and carved wellhead, in a view based on a 2005 photograph.
Shadowed Gothic loggia with repeated pointed openings, thin metal bars and a low balustrade framing canal-side rooftops and a tower.
Looking through the loggiaThe open loggia frames Venetian rooftops and a tower, based on a backlit 2005 photograph.

Five works worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. The Grand Canal facadeMarino Contarini; Matteo Raverti; Giovanni Bon; Bartolomeo Bon; Jean Charlier

    Three superimposed loggias create the palace’s open Gothic screen. Its historic decoration included red, ultramarine, black, white lead and gold; that color finish is lost.Grand Canal frontage

  2. Franchetti’s opus sectile floorGiorgio Franchetti

    Franchetti designed the geometric stone floor from antique marble fragments. Its patterns draw on Venetian basilicas and Cosmatesque examples; it is part of his later museum intervention.Porticoed entrance atrium

  3. Mantegna’s Saint SebastianAndrea Mantegna; Giorgio Franchetti

    Franchetti acquired the painting in 1893 and designed a marble-clad architectural room around it, inspired by Venetian chapel models including Santa Maria dei Miracoli.So-called Mantegna Chapel

  4. The courtyard stairGiorgio Franchetti

    The external stair with pointed arches was reassembled during Franchetti’s restoration, partly from original fragments.Courtyard

  5. The 1427 wellheadBartolomeo Bon

    Bartolomeo Bon carved the courtyard’s marble wellhead in 1427; Franchetti recovered it on the Parisian antiques market.Courtyard

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Ticket arrangements
Check current operator guidance
Time needed
1 hour
Best time
Daylight helps you read the marble facade from the canal. For an interior visit, check current visitor arrangements first. Allow about one hour as an editorial planning estimate; this is not a museum-recommended duration.
Getting there
The museum is at Cannaregio 3932. The operator’s directions identify the Ca’ d’Oro stop on ACTV vaporetto line 1 and describe a 30-minute walk from Santa Lucia railway station along Strada Nuova. Check ACTV for current service and route details.
Accessibility
Confirm the current entrance, step-free route and access to individual rooms and loggias directly with the museum before planning an interior visit. Its older access notes do not establish the current visitor route.

Current published visitor information does not establish an applicable ticket price or booking requirement. Check the museum’s official guidance before planning an interior visit.

Look at the facade from across the Grand Canal: compare the three stacked loggias and the red Verona marble in three columns of the second loggia. Franchetti’s geometric atrium floor provides a different way to read the palace’s stonework.

See toursOfficial website
Get directionsGoogle MapsApple Maps

Cannaregio 3932, 30121 Venezia, Italy

Tours worth booking

A few we would book ourselves, to get more from your visit.

Booking through these links may earn Italia Magnifica a commission, at no cost to you.

  1. Venice Boat Tour + Exclusive Murano Glass Show

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  2. The Secrets of the Grand Canal - Special Private Boat Tour

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  6. Small Group Venice Grand Canal Panoramic Tour

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Good to know

Why is it called the Ca’ d’Oro?

The facade once had an unusually rich finish in red, ultramarine blue, black, white lead and gold. The gold and polychrome decoration that gave the palace its name is no longer present.

What did Giorgio Franchetti contribute to the palace?

He bought and restored the palace, donated it with the original nucleus of his art collection to the Italian state in 1916, and designed the atrium’s opus sectile floor. The museum opened in 1927.

Where can I check the current ticket price and booking arrangements?

Current published visitor information does not establish an applicable ticket price or booking requirement. Check the museum’s official guidance before planning an interior visit.

How long should I allow, and what about access?

About one hour is an editorial planning estimate. Confirm current visitor arrangements and the entrance, step-free route and access to rooms and loggias with the museum before planning an interior visit.

More to see nearby

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