 Durant
& Cheryl Imboden'sVenice for Visitors veniceforvisitors.com |
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Ca' Foscari ToursUniversità Ca' Foscari - Ca' Foscari University
ABOVE: The Ca' Foscari tour includes dramatic views of the Grand Canal fom the 15th Century palazzo's water entrance. (In the photo above, Barbara Cavalieri shares anecdotes about the palace with her two tour guests.) Ca' Foscari is one of the most important palazzi in Venice. The historic building was once the home of Francesco Foscari, a doge of the Serene Republic of Venice who acquired the Venetian Gothic palace in 1452, hired an architect to reconstruct it, and died just five days after moving into his new home in 1457. Today, Ca' Foscari is the administrative seat of Ca' Foscari University, an educational institution that was founded in 1868 and now has 19,000 students in faculties scattered around Venice. The building was renovated under the direction of the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa in the mid-1930s and restored again from 2004 to 2006, when sections of the original floors and ceilings were uncovered and preserved for viewing. Guided tours for the general public
For more information, including a YouTube video, visit the Ca' Foscari Tour page at the Università Ca' Foscari Web site. The English-language page has up-to-date schedules, prices, directions on reaching the palace, and an e-mail address for group bookings. Next page: More Ca' Foscari photos
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In
2009, the university began offering inexpensive guided tours of Ca' Foscari in
Italian and English. The tours take place from Monday through Friday at 4 p.m.
and also on Monday, Thursday, and Friday at 11:30 a.m. You can buy tickets from
the glass-windowed public-relations office on the right side of the lobby.
Tickets go on sale 15 minutes before the tour, and you'll be told where to meet
(either in the lobby or, in good weather, outside by the cistern in the main
courtyard). 
The
tour includes a narrated walk through the courtyards of Ca' Foscari and the
neighboring palace of Ca' Giustinian, visits to several important rooms in Ca'
Foscari, and sweeping views of the Grand Canal from the palace's water entrance.
It lasts about an hour and is well worth the modest price (which was €4 during
our visit in late 2009, or €3 for students and other visitors
who are entitled to reductions).
