Contarini del Bovolo staircase

The Scala Contarini del Bovolo is part of the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is a late Gothic building in Venice, located in the San Marco district.

The staircase characterizes the rear facade of the building which has a completely different aspect from the others.

It has a sequence of rectangular single-lancet windows and round arches, finds its most expressive part in the famous round scalar tower with a spiral staircase. It is called bòvolo in Venetian dialect.

This kind of scale was not unusual for its time and context, but one of such large dimensions had never been developed.

The family name was enriched with the Bovolo name after this expansion.

The tower, designed by Giovanni Candi or, in accordance with more recent hypotheses by Giorgio Spavento, gives access to adjoining loggias, developed on five levels, and continues the aerial style in the five orders of flying buttresses on columns.

The tower ends in a domed lookout with a wide view over the city.

The tower was once adorned with frescoes both inside and outside, but today few traces of such decorations remain.

Map: Contarini del Bovolo staircase