Renaissance garden pavilion · 16th century · Venice

Casino of the Spirits, Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo

The Casino of the Spirits — Casino degli Spiriti — is a secluded Renaissance garden pavilion perched at the northern tip of the Cannaregio waterfront in Venice, belonging to the grounds of Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo. Built in the 16th century as a retreat for intellectual and artistic gatherings, the pavilion acquired its evocative name from locals who mistook the animated discussions of poets and philosophers for the murmuring of ghosts.

At a glance

Type: Renaissance garden pavilion (casino) attached to a noble palazzo
Period: 16th century (Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo, c. 1500; Casino, mid-16th century)
Style: Venetian Renaissance
Location: Cannaregio (Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini), Venice, Veneto, Italy
Coordinates: 45.4452° N, 12.3326° E

Overview

Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo is one of Venice’s finest early Renaissance palaces, its facade overlooking the lagoon at the northern edge of Cannaregio. The Casino of the Spirits — a low garden building set apart from the main palace on the water’s edge — served as an informal meeting place for the intellectual circle of the Contarini family and their guests. Today it is private property but remains visible from the northern lagoon and from Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini, making it a coveted subject for photographers exploring the quieter reaches of Venice.

History

The Contarini family, one of the oldest and most distinguished patrician houses of the Venetian Republic, constructed their lagoon-front palace around 1500. The garden and its casino pavilion became a gathering place for humanist circles in the mid-16th century, reportedly hosting figures associated with the literary and philosophical salons of Renaissance Venice. The name “degli Spiriti” entered popular use because passers-by on the lagoon heard animated voices at night and imagined the casino to be haunted. After the fall of the Republic in 1797 the palazzo passed through various owners; it remains in private hands.

What you see

From Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini, the garden wall and the low white facade of the casino are visible above the lagoon, set against the open water of the northern lagoon with the cemetery island of San Michele in the distance. The main palace facade — a harmonious composition of pointed Gothic windows modernised with Renaissance detailing — faces the lagoon to the north. The garden between the casino and the palazzo is screened but its trees overhang the fondamenta. The setting, particularly at dusk, retains the atmosphere of melancholy seclusion that earned the site its name.

Cultural significance

The Casino of the Spirits exemplifies the Venetian Renaissance tradition of the casino as an intellectual refuge — a private space for philosophical discourse, music, and literary exchange separate from both the public life of the campo and the formal ceremonial rooms of the palazzo. Its haunted reputation and lagoon-edge isolation give it a Romantic aura that has made it one of the most evocative spots in Cannaregio, far from the crowds of the main tourist circuit.

Practical information

Address: Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini, Cannaregio, Venice
Access: Private property; exterior visible from the public fondamenta and from the lagoon
Admission: Free (exterior viewing only)

Getting there

Take vaporetto line 3 or 4.1/4.2 to the Tre Archi stop in Cannaregio, then walk east along Fondamenta di Cannaregio and Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini (approximately 10–15 minutes). Alternatively, the Madonna dell’Orto stop (line 4.1/4.2) is a short walk west. The site is in the quiet northern reaches of Cannaregio, away from the main tourist routes.

Sources & resources

Find it on the map

Google Maps See the location on a full map → Street View Walk around the place virtually → OpenStreetMap Free community cartography →

Palace Contarini dal Zaffo in Venice - The Palace is located in the district of Cannaregio, between&nbsp;Madonna dell&#39;Orto&nbsp;and&nbsp;Sacca della Misericordia. Built in the sixteenth century by the family Contarini Dal Zaffo, today it houses the Little House of Divine Providenc. The famous&nbsp;Casino degli Spiriti&nbsp;is part of its dependencies.



It is said, in fact, that in the years that were the casino was the seat of a sect that organized satanic rites and many witnesses told of having seen, at night in the fog, people hooded and hidden by cloaks holding torches. These processions reached right up to the Casin degli Spiriti where strange noises were heard, similar to Gregorian chants that spread throughout the surrounding lagoon.



The ghost who remembers the most of that place is certainly Luzzo, a 16th century painter who met with Titian, Giorgione and Sandolino in the rooms of the Casino. The place was, in fact, also a meeting place for nobles, artists and writers who accompanied themselves with women, prostitutes or libertines.



One of them, Cecilia, always came with Giorgione, but she had attracted the attention of Luzzo who fell in love with her without being repaid.



One night, after a few glasses too many, Luzzo took a rifle, left the room, went up to the top floor of the Casino and shot himself. Since that day it is said that his soul in love and tormented still wanders through the rooms of the palace in search of love.



Even facts of blood, however, are linked to this mysterious palace. At the end of the second war, Venice had entered a crisis: trade stopped, rotten goods, the population who began to prefer the hinterland or even abroad. Many citizens, therefore, had found the opportunity to earn some money with smuggling.



Among the smugglers of the time was Linda Cimetta, from Belluno who bought cigarettes and then resold them on the black market. For her beauty they were all jealous and, one night, she disappeared into thin air. After days of research including the police they concluded that she was the victim of a murder. Perhaps some competitors wanted to eliminate a rival or someone hadn&#39;t paid and the case was dismissed as a simple settling of scores.



A few months later some kids were bathing in the waters in front of the Casin degli Spiriti when a wooden trunk covered with shells and algae appeared in the distance in the distance. The young people immediately brought it ashore convinced that they had found who knows what treasure. But as soon as they opened it they found themselves in front of the eyes and the torn body of a woman: it was Linda Cimetta.

Since that moment no Venetian has dived into the waters for the Casin degli Spiriti.

https://culturalheritageonline.com/places/casino-of-the-spirits-palace-contarini-dal-zaffo-l3611/

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Casino of the Spirits, Palace Contarini dal Zaffo