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The Venice Venice Hotel: defining the Post Venetian concept at Ca’ da Mosto

Founders of Golden Goose Alessandro and Francesca Gallo renovated old palace Ca’ Da Mosto and opened a new hotel on the Grand Canal with an avant-garde spirit

The Venice Venice Hotel: the history of Palace Ca’ Da Mosto 

Ca’ Da Mosto is one of the most ancient palaces of Venice. It dates back to the Thirteenth century. At first, the palace served as a private home for the Da Mosto family, whose origins are uncertain. They might have come from either Padua or Oderzo, a town near Treviso. However, the Da Mostos were wealthy and highly placed. In 1245, they were recorded to the Venetian patriciate, listed among the so-called Case Nuove. The family counted among its members Alvise Da Mosto, who explored Africa in the Thirteenth century.  

Later on, the Da Mostos might have experienced some money shortage. They decided to sell their palace, which became one of the first hotels of Venice. From the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth century Ca’ Da Mosto hosted the Leon Bianco hotel. It welcomed renown guests, such as the Emperor Franz Joseph the Second and the Hereditary Princes of Russia. After its closure, palace Ca’ Da Mosto remained uninhabited for decades. In 2017, Alessandro and Francesca Gallo bought it and started a renovation that took four years. Venice is a difficult context for the characteristics of the place. Leon Bianco had the first ever hotel licence in Europe. 

The Venice Venice Hotel: the ancient charm of the palace  

Praised by John Ruskin, the architecture of palace Ca’ Da Mosto is an example of the Venetian-Byzantine style that developed in the city under the influence of the Eastern culture. Ca’ Da Mosto is one of the few buildings in Venice with stone foundations. They still lie on a wooden base, a common feature of local construction. The sole of the city consists of a muddy sand from the lagoon, solidified and compacted, above which wooden logs are placed one next to each other. This is why the city of Venice moves. The wooden logs were tarred, but those located near water need to be replaced periodically. They are subject to erosion and damaged by marine vegetation.  

On the contrary, the logs at the center of the city have never been replaced. This is due to the lack of oxygen and oxidation that avoid the proliferation of any form of life. The renovation opera carried out by Alessandro and Francesca Gallo aimed at bringing the ancient charm of the palace back to life, while at the same time adding modern and contemporary works of art and design objects, in order to narrate the history of the most influential international avant-garde movements of the last century.  

Venetian-Byzantine style under the influence of the Eastern culture 

The original architecture of the palace Ca’ Da Mosto has been preserved wherever possible. Examples are the Byzantine façade; the doors and windows in solid brass, some burnished and others with a polished finish; the preference for single patter windows; the staircase, which was disassembled, cleaned, restored and then reassembled. The staircase represents an exception to the majority of Venetian noble palaces.  

Low ceiling, no mirrors and stuccos on the walls, no particular pastel works. The reason for this is that the palace is so old that at the time of its construction such decorations were simply not in vogue yet. Ca’ Da Mosto is one of the few palaces in Venice with two noble floors. The staircase as well as the ceiling of most of the rooms – all characterized by expansive windows – become, at a certain point of the day, mirrors for the water to reflect in. One of the pillars of the hotel’s design is the dialogue between the interiors and the reflection of the water.

To achieve this, they opted for an architecture that quotes and homages the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa for example in the water entrance of the Hotel.He managed to create a dialogue between local and Eastern culture. He was able to interpret the avant-garde spirit and modernity.  

The Venice Venice Hotel: Post Venetian 

Despite its ancient location, the hotel wants to boost innovation and promote the encounter between different arts and movements, giving back to Venice its past role of melting pot and crossroad of culture. Venice also existed after the Eighteenth century. Carlo Scarpa, Peggy Guggenheim, Brodsky, Picasso, Lee Byars, Hemingway were here. They want the hotel to be a secret refuge for the eternal avant-garde spirit that animates Venice.  

The Venice Venice Hotel does not accept the boundaries of the traditional concept of Venetianness, rooted in classicism, but wants to offer its proper vision of the city and its soul. Regarded as a place where past and present should coexist and serve as a sort of push towards the future. Thus, Alessandro and Francesca Gallo launched a new movement called Postvenezianità. The dawn of an artistic vision that focuses on the anticipatory dimension of its style. Termed Postvenezianità, it tells the story of the Venice of tomorrow.  

The movement has its proper logo and manifesto, it offers new creative impetus to Venetian ingenuity grounded in classicism.It adopts the symbol of the rose: a tribute to beauty, a promises of love not to be broken. It pursues balance in the greater sum of contrasting parts and it shows culture fusion as a path to the truth. The freedom of incoherence as a method, aesthetics as the insuperable boundary of functionality is elected. They embrace lateral thinking, they applaud courageous artistic vision, as artisans of dreams. They accept the eternal call for change as the fundamental principle of Venetianness and respond to it as necessary in the natural order of things.The logo of the movement derives froma. Work of Jannis Kounellis, which can be seen in the hotel. 

The Venice Venice Hotel: art and artists 

The art range from Arte Povera to radical architecture, from concept art to visual poetry. Hanging on the wall of the bar located at the first floor is a tapestry created by Francesco Simeti.  

Room 19 is dedicated to the Fluxus movement, with works by Giuseppe Chiari, Joseph Beuys and Maurizio Nannucci. In Room 22 there are The Cycle of Hands, a series of paintings by Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer. 

Room 23 includes a star by Gilberto Zorio. As well as works signed by Eliseo Mattiacci, Luigi Ghirri and Luca Pignattelli. In Room 24 there is another star by Zorio, which was realized with sand from Stromboli. Zorio loved stars, because the pentacle is the most kinetic shape, and it has also a perfect balance. Indeed, by connecting the dots of a star, you can create infinite pentacles. 

Room 25 is a tribute to Italian photographer Renato D’Agostin, showcasing a collection of his works. D’Agostin is internationally recognized as a master of dark room printing and among the many projects he created in his career, he also worked on a series about Venice, challenging the cliche of the lagoon city. In the room some of these prints are displayed, one of which, very iconic of his work, was present in the moodboard for the hotel while it was being conceived. Being developed in two levels, R25’s layout resembles the photographer’s studio, and guests of the room are offered the possibility to shoot with the artist’s camera and a black and white film which will then be processed directly by D’Agostin, fully living the artist’s experience. 

The Sotoportego del Traghetto 

Venice M’Art is also the name of the all-day restaurant located in the Sotoportego del Traghetto of Ca’ Da Mosto and open to non-guests of the hotel as well. The restaurant alternates two different souls during the day. For lunch, the atmosphere is pop: you can find mini tegamino pizzas and savory frittella. In Venice frittella is traditionally a Carnival specialty, but here you can eat it all the year. For dinner, the atmosphere changes and becomes more elegant, with white tablecloths and candles.  

The restaurant combines regional specialties with international dishes. Instead of the classic menu in book form, guests will find a box containing a series of cards with a picture of the dish on one side and the list of ingredients on the other. Venice M’Art also serves aperitif, with signature drinks such as the Venice Venice Americano. Guests of the hotel, as well as outer guests on reservation, can also have breakfast and dinner on the hotel terrace, enjoying a view of the Grand Canal. 

The Venice Venice Hotel 

The Venice Venice is a five stars hotel enclosed in the historic palace Ca’ Da Mosto, which is located in the heart of Venice, overlooking the Grand Canal. The hotel features forty-five rooms, each with its proper style, a restaurant and cocktail bar, a concept store, a spa, an events area and a private club. The Venice Venice Hotel was opened in February 2022 on initiative of Alessandro and Francesca Gallo, founders of clothing and footwear brand Golden Goose, who wanted to restore Venetian historic heritage by making it dialogue with modernity, combining hospitality with art, fashion and design.   

Debora Vitulano

The writer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article.

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