Palazzo Ferro Fini | |
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Palazzo Ferro Fini
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General information | |
Type | Palace |
Coordinates | 45°25′54″N 12°20′02″E / 45.431738°N 12.333875°ECoordinates: 45°25′54″N 12°20′02″E / 45.431738°N 12.333875°E |
Elevation | 0 |
The Palazzo Ferro Fini is a historical building in Venice, Italy. It was originally two buildings, the Palazzo Morosini Ferro and the Palazzo Flangini Fini, which were combined into one in the 1860s to create a luxury hotel, the New York. The hotel was occupied by troops in World War II (1939–45). By 1970 the hotel was in decay, and the building was purchased by the Veneto region, which undertook extensive renovations and made it the seat of the regional council.
The Palazzo Ferro Fini is located on the north bank of the Grand Canal in the section between the Ponte dell'Accademia and Piazza San Marco, opposite the Church of Santa Maria della Salute built by the 17th century architect Baldassarre Longhena. The building combines two adjacent Renaissance-style buildings. It has the classic Venetian layout, with an atrium that spans the whole building from the waterfront to the landward side, and an interior garden or courtyard. The interior has been renovated several times, but the exterior is unchanged. The larger Palazzo Fini has a typical Renaissance facade, while the facade of the smaller Palazzo Ferro is Gothic in style. Both have light plaster walls, recently restored. The two buildings had separate histories until they were combined into a hotel in the late 19th century. After extensive interior renovations, the palace today is the seat of the Regional Council of Venice.
The Palazzo Fini was started by Tommaso Flangini, a wealthy Greek tax lawyer from Corfu. In 1620 he rented a house on the Grand Canal owned by the Contarini family, who promised to renovate the building which was in dilapidated condition. In 1638 Flangini bought the building and its neighbor, razed them to the ground, and put up a new building completed in 1640. After Flangini's daughter died without heirs, the building was inherited by the Greek community of Venice, to be sold and the proceeds used to support young Greeks. In 1662 Jerome Fini bought the palace. He was also a wealthy tax lawyer, from a Greek family that had moved from Cyprus in the 16th century. Fini paid the large sum of 120,000 ducats for the palace and other real estate in the province.