Campiello de la Cason is not really off the beaten track--as it's just a short way from the bustling start of the Strada Nuova in Campo dei Santi Apostoli--yet every time I happen through it I'm struck once more by its air of being a singular place apart from the rest of the city.
Today, as we walked home from his school, Sandro and I found that repair work on a nearby bridge has turned the campiello into a cul de sac rather than the through-way it usually is. Which seemed to give me license to linger, while Sandro attentively watched two men repairing the low roof on the yellow building at the left of the above photo.
But as Yoga Berra used to say, it gets late early around here these days, and as the sun meekly retired and a cold harsh wind punched in not even the campiello's charm or any work left to do on the roof could keep us or the workman around.
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| It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the song says--at least in the upper windows of this palazzo |
According to Mr Douglas: Doge Angelo Partecipazio (809-827) is said to have lived here during the
ReplyDeletebuilding of the Ducal Palace. His palace, which seems
to have included the whole campiello, and to have
extended as far as Campo SS. Apostoli, was strongly
fortified against inroads from Murano. The name
"Cason" refers to the "casoni," or prisons, for the
sestiere of Cannaregio that were here later on.
Thanks so much for this information, Bert, having yet to get over the sheer look of the place I had no idea about its interesting past.
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