page_title: Ca' Foscari
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Ca' Foscari / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Ca' Foscari: view on the Grand Canal
context_page_description: Ca' Foscari, the palace of the Foscari family, is a Gothic building on the waterfront of the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice, Italy.
  It was built for the doge Francesco Foscari in 1453, and designed by the architect Bartolomeo Bon. It is now the main seat of Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
  The palace is located on the widest bend of the Grand Canal. Here, during the annual Regata Storica, held on the first Sunday in September, a floating wooden structure known as La Machina is placed; this is also the site of the finishing line, and the venue for prize-giving.
context_section_description: Ca' Foscari is a typical example of the residence of the Venetian nobles and merchants. The structure is one of the most imposing buildings of the city and its external courtyard is the biggest courtyard of a private house after that of the Doge's Palace. In common with other palaces, Ca' Foscari's principal and most decorated facade and entrance faced the Grand Canal - the city's main thoroughfare. This façade is characterized by a rhythmic sequence of arches and windows; this style, known as Floral Gothic, is emulated throughout the city and can be  identified through the use of pointed arches and carved window heads. At Ca' Foscari, the tops of each column are decorated with carved quatrefoil patterns; the Gothic capitals are adorned  with foliage, animals and masks. Above the Gothic window is a marble frieze with a helmet surmounted by a lion couchant representing the role of the doge as the captain of the republic; at each side of the central helmet we can find two putti holding a shield symbolising the Foscari's coat of arms with the winged lion of Saint Mark, symbol of Venice.
  The practical function of Venetian palaces differed from those in other Italian cities. The nobility did not derive their income from landed estates as elsewhere, but from seafaring and trade. As a result, their "fondaco" houses had to serve not only as residences but also as the headquarters for their trading ventures. The main features of these early palaces were two-storey arcades or loggias along the waterfront; on the ground floor was a portal for loading and unloading merchandise.  The portal often led into an entrance hall or "portico" used for business negotiations, with storerooms and offices on either side and a kitchen at the back. The living quarters were upstairs, with the rooms leading off great T-shaped central room; a well and an open staircase were placed in the courtyard. There were low towers at each end of the façade. The House of the two Towers too used to have this structure, before Francesco Foscari decided to destroy it and rebuild it in Gothic style.
  The ground floor was used as storerooms; the first and second floors ("piani nobili") were used for formal entertaining and private residential use respectively. The central loggia of these two principal floors are designed in a similar Venetian floral Gothic style to the better known arcade of the Doge's Palace. The loggias, tied one above the other, are now glazed and light the large halls behind. The loggias are flanked by wings each of two bays containing smaller rooms.
caption: View on the Grand Canal from the second floor of Ca' Foscari
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