The most dysfunctional doorway in Venice

Such a beautiful loser. I often go back to the Rio Ponte Longo, right by the bridge, to marvel at the portal that disrespects the physical laws of the universe. Each time, I kind of expect to discover a gaping hole, or worse a clump of chalky brick chunks where a house once stood.

Yet the double diamond doorway hangs in there, and will no doubt still be around when they scatter my ashes in the Molo.

Take a closer look.

The door has been bricked up at the bottom for many years, so it serves no real function any longer. Since the lagoon has risen and the ground has subsided over the centuries, the steps are often below water level. So there's no real choice but to dam up the hole, unless the plan is to convert to a boathouse.

My favorite features are the symmetrical marble diamonds, though I wonder what the design concept originally was. Somehow I doubt the diamonds were just filled with bricks. Maybe the bricks were coated with decorative stucco or something. You can see a bit of plaster on the column and diamond. Is there a forensic architect out there?

Those are some impressive-looking holes there. And the bricks are in a serious state of gessification (essentially, turning into chalk).

Water is entering the building's foundation between the bricks, where the mortar has been eaten away. You can literally watch the water pouring in and out of the wall as the canale heaves and sloshes. Bear in mind, this wasn't even close to high tide. In this shot, you can also see how the wall is wicking up the juice, well above the waterline. As Chico Marx would say, "Atsa no good, too".

Comments

[Joe]

sad but beautiful at the same time.

[pamela Peniston]

Norman! At Last!! Welcome back!

Anyway--I think the diamonds probably had lovely marble facings as did most of the area around the door-some carved no doubt. I believe they probably had a stanchion at their center or top that held torches or lanterns to provide lighting for the water entry. I've got a lot of 19th century photographs of Venice--I'll see if I can find this entryway in any of them!

Anyway, it's good to have you back--I sadly, haven't been back to Venice since 05 and I'm always an off-season kind of gal, but I'm sad to hear about these changes.

When I finally get some dollars together, I'll check out those restaurants. And Cat-glad to hear you're blogging-I'll check yours out too!

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Ciao PP. Time to return to Venezia for you.

[Albert]

I'd like to trace some 19th century photos of Venice. I have a book called "Venice in Old Photographs" by Dorothy Ritter, but many years ago I saw a book whose name and author I have forgotten, but it was in a limited edition of 250, and was of photographs of Venice taken before 1914 (WWI). If anybody knows of this book please let me know (bert4545@tiscali.co.uk)

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Hmmm. Is this a book published recently, as in the last 50 years? Or is it an antique book? I have the Ritter book you mentioned. (Another interesting one is by Fulvio Roiter, Venezia 1891-2001. It contrasts then/now in photos taken from the exact same vantage point.)

When you say you want to "trace", are you trying to ID the locations in antique photos you have? If so, that's pretty easy. We could help there.

Norman

[Pamela]

One of my favorites for 19th C. photos is def. Calle e Canali di Venezia by Ferdinando Ongania. You can sometimes find the quarto editions (usually incomplete, and more often, the French language versions) of this classic.

I'd love to know what pre-WWI book Albert is mentioning though; please post here if you do know of it!

[Kurt]

Norman -

Been a while....Hope all is well with you.

Wondering what's going on in Venice today - April 25, 2008 - for the feast of St. Mark?

[jif]

funny link: If London were like Venice:

http://www.forgottenfutures.com/
library/venice/ven_ndx.htm