Ca'd'Oro (Palazzo Santa Sofia) Venice

The Palazzo Santa Sofia is better known as Ca' d'Oro (golden house) due to the gilded and richly coloured decorations which used to adorn its walls. It is thought to be one of the most beautiful old palazzos on the Grand Canal. The Palazzo was built between 1428 and 1430 for the Contarini family by the architects and sculptors Giovanni Bon and his son Bartolomeo.
The main façade of Ca' d'Oro facing onto the Grand Canal is built in typical Venetian floral gothic style which is Byzantine in appearance. The ‘wedding cake’ exterior is a profusion of colonnades and balconies, columns and arches, and delicate quatrefoil windows. In 1922 the palazzo was bequeathed to the State by its last owner Baron Giorgio Franchetti who had acquired it in 1894. Following extensive restoration to its former glory it is now open to the public as a gallery.