The merchant's gold

This is one of the medieval gothic houses built along the Grand Canal in Venice (Italy). Constructed in the second quarter of the 15th C., it is known as Ca’ d’Oro or golden house, because its facade used to be lavishly decorated with plates of pure gold. Merchant who could afford such splendor was Martin Contarini; a member of one of the most powerful families of the Venetian republic. The house, with its square, oriental plan and asymmetric facade combining flourishing gothic tracery with rounded, Byzantine arches is often considered typical of the ‘Venetian gothic’ architecture. It is worth remembering that while Italy is famous for its Renaissance art and thinkers, Venice’s wealth and cultural achievements date already to the medieval period. Venice is essentially a gothic medieval city which can serve as a reminder and testimony of the flourishing urban life, commerce and above all, the extraordinary achievements of local merchants who maintained trade links with almost all major ports of not only Europe but also northern Africa, Byzantium, the Middle East, Crimea, Caucasus and even India or China all of this in a period too often perceived as purely rural and dominated only by feudal lordships ruled by secular knights or church ecclesiastics. At least that was my main impression of this place.