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Ca’ Zenobio degli Armeni palace is in the Dorsoduro district, Venice. It was built between the XVII and XVIII century for the noble Zenobio family from Verona. This noble residence was actually erected on a pre-existing Gothic building. In the mid-XIX century, when the family died out, it became the seat of the Armenian Mekhitarists of Venice, from whom comes the second part of the palace name.

THE PALACE

It is a Baroque-style building with a façade spread over three levels and an attic, featuring a strict symmetry. It is quite long and has many openings. There are, in fact, 46 monoforas, three entrances on the ground floor, and an opening in the central part of the two noble floors.
On the façade overlooking the garden, there are two Venetian windows surmounted by pediments in the highest central part of the building. At the bottom of the garden, there’s the sumptuous building, designed by Tommaso Temanza as well, currently used as an archive and a library.

THE GARDEN

An iron gate marks the entrance of the garden which, in the XVIII century, housed a symmetrical parterre with a very elaborate layout. In the XIX century, it underwent a thorough transformation that gave it the look of a romantic garden with paths, bridges and hills.
Today, the paved courtyard with the remains of two wells can still be seen next to the palace.
Past the gate, visitors can enter the XIX century garden. Inside it, among reddish brown yews (Taxus baccata), laurels (Laurus nobilis), cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), nettle trees (Celtis australis), very fragrant cheesewood (Pittosporum – part of the XX century recovery), and rows of black locust trees (Robinia pseudoacacia) it is possible to walk on a long straight path that stands out against a splendid neoclassical loggia.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)