The Palazzo Foscari (known in Venice as Ca' Foscari) was built on the waterfront of Venice's Grand Canal circa 1437 by the Doge Francesco Foscari, who required its design to demonstrate his wealth and power. Ca' Foscari stands on a bend in the Grand Canal known as the 'Volta'; it is one of a trio of architecturally distinguished pallazzi there, the other two being Ca' Balbi, built in 1590, and Ca' Giustinian built circa 1452. Venice is known for its waterways and gondolas Gondola. ... Categories: Stub | Venice | Canals ... Events foundation of All Souls College, University of Oxford. ... The chief office in the historical city states of Venice and Genoa was the Doge (from the Latin dux--leader). ... Francesco Foscari was doge of Venice at the height of the Italian Renaissance. ... Events March 14 - Battle of Ivry - Henry IV of France again defeats the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne. ... Events October - English troops under John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, land in Guyenne and retake most of the province without a fight. ...

Today, while Ca' Foscari has lost - through that decay which adds to the charm of modern Venice - much of its original splendour, its architectural merits are still a fine example of the florid Byzantine-inspired gothic architecture that distinguishes so many of the palazzi lining the Grand Canal built during the Renaissance period. The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Besides its original meaning, of or relating to the Goths, a Germanic tribe and thus the Gothic language and the Gothic alphabet, and aside from its Early Modern connotations of rough, barbarous, the word Gothic has been used since the 18th century to refer to distinctly different things. ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

Venice as theater: Ca' Foscari (right) is covered in canvas trompe l'oeil reproducing the actual facade, to disguise the renovation work currently being executed.

The piano nobile, the main reception floor, is distinguished by a large eight-arch loggia, that is doubled in the second piano nobile immediately above it. The tracery ornamentation of the columns and arches of the loggias are executed in the same quatrefoil gothic style as the loggias of both the Doge's Palace and Ca d'Oro. Each of the loggias is flanked by two ogee topped windows ornamented with the same design of tracery. This gives the palazzo a symmetry not common to all other palazzi of this period on the Grand Canal. Trompe loeil on building in Narbonne, France. ... The Piano Nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture. ... Villa Godi by Palladio. ... Gothic architecture characterizes any of the styles of European architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, in use throughout Europe during the high and late medieval period, from the 12th century onwards. ... Doges Palace The Doges Palace (Ital. ...

The palazzo has had a troubled history: during the 19th-century Austrian occupation, it was used as a barracks. From this time the building has suffered successive neglect: nothing today remains of the opulent plaster and stucco work that once covered the exterior. Nor does anything remain of the ornate exterior staircases which once gave access to the piano nobile from the courtyard. The Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. ...

Still undergoing restoration, the palazzo today houses the departments of economics and foreign languages of the University of Venice. The University of Venice (Università Ca Foscari Venezia) was founded on August 6, 1868 as the Scuola Superiore di Commercio, the first institution in Italy to deal with higher education in the fields of economics and commerce. ...