Palazzo Malipiero

Originally built in Byzantine times, the nine centuries' architectural history of the palace can be retraced in its complex structure: each generation of owners left its stamp of caring and fervour for the arts.

They have maintained Palazzo Malipiero's ancient splendour and the traditional prestige, and, in upgrading installations and equipment to modern standards, improved the great comfort of its spacious rooms.

These transfers accelerated the decline of the building until the Barnabò family purchased it, who in 1951 undertook a substantial restoration returning the palace premises to a grand and serene eighteenth-century style.

Recently Marco Barnabò Jr sold, at the end of 2022, all his Malipiero Palace's property portion including the most of Piano Nobile, the entrance hall, waterfront and monumental garden.

However, it appears that the Cappello family put the palace's storehouses to good use by developing the newly discovered printing and publishing activity there.

What we know is that between 1656 and 1676, as a result of the construction of two very popular and successful theatres, a licentious way of life spread all over St. Samuel parish, and soon infected the palace.

The Palazzo Malipiero also contributes to Venice's Cultural heritage revival by hosting the exhibition spaces of Studio d'Arte Barnabò Gallery and Il Tridente multimedia publishing house.

The architectural development of the "Cà Grande di San Samuele" is similar to the traditional evolution of many Venetian palaces, the freedom and the harmony of structures underpinning the vivid rhythms and original fascination of the city.

The original part of the building was probably built between the 10th and 11th centuries by Soranzo family in Venetian-Byzantine style, as evidenced by the large door (number 3201) and the quadruple windows with round arches (later amalgamated into the gothic structure) visible on the San Samuele side.

In the second half of the seventeenth century, Palazzo Malipiero, its architecture ignoring Baroque, was one of the richest and most meaningful buildings in Venice.

The latter is also aligned with the 17th century entrance hall, so that a perspective view can be seen when entering the palace from the main door, through to the fountain, a statue of Neptune inserted in the opposite garden wall.

In the garden has been placed the large well (originally in the inner courtyard) that, with the family coat-of-arms and the sculpted figures of the bride and bridegroom Elisabetta e Caterino, bear witness to the union between the Cappellos and the Malipieros.

The hedge, thanks to its intense colouring and precise pruning, conveys a further sophisticated touch to this precious garden; but was due to the real effort, done with great love to it by Anna Guglielmi (Barnabò’s widow, who died in 2016), that enriched the original seventeenth century garden landscaping placing the Malipiero-Cappello's nuptial pit in the center of her floreal drawing.