Water, water everywhere\u2014and prime views of it from this rare property on St. Mark\u2019s Square, Venice.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n
You go to Venice for the water. That\u2019s the whole point: the highly photogenic idiosyncrasy of an ancient city where everyone goes about much of their day-to-day lives in a floating fashion. \u201cEveryone here wants a view of the water and it\u2019s all about seeing the action,\u201d says Michelangelo Ravagnan, founder of eponymous luxury real estate agency Ravagnan\u2019s, whose own daily outings have recently revealed a surprise visitor. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was on my boat, taking a client to see a private island, when a dolphin emerged right next to us, in front of St. Mark\u2019s Square,\u201d says Ravagnan of the bottlenose beauty nicknamed Mimmo who\u2014despite the hectic comings and goings of the many vaporetti, traghetti and gondole that ferry residents and tourists across the waterway\u2014has taken up residence in the lagoon.<\/p>\n
Set over three floors and covering more than 1,000 square meters (around 10,700 square feet), the former showroom for a collection of Murano glass occupies one of the most coveted positions in Venice.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n
For humans who share Mimmo\u2019s urge to be close to the Piazza San Marco\u2014which is about 30 million of them every year, flocking to see such world-famous landmarks as the flamboyant 9th-century St. Mark\u2019s Basilica, the Doge\u2019s Palace and Venice\u2019s tallest building, the Campanile di San Marco (St. Mark\u2019s Bell Tower)\u2014Ravagnan has a property unlike any other<\/a> within his clutches. \u201cThis is the kind of property that a Venetian real estate agent dreams of handling for an entire lifetime,\u201d he says, not a little breathlessly, of what is, without doubt, a rare opportunity in a world-class location.<\/p>\n The property’s three levels (plus attic) are accessed via an independent ground-floor entrance.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n The property in question\u2014accessed out of sight of the tourist hoards, via a tiny backstreet\u2014sits within another of the Piazza\u2019s much-photographed historic buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie. This 12th-century building, remodeled in the 16th century, was home to the offices and residences of the city\u2019s most important officials, after the Doge (elected head of state). Then in 2022, it was opened to the public for the first time in 500 years, with exhibition spaces, a caf\u00e9 and library with postcard views over the square. Before that, few had seen much of what lay behind its famous fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n Among the historic arches at ground level is Ristorante Quadri, an institution in St. Mark\u2019s Square since 1831 and now presided over by Max Alajmo, who, in 2022, became the world\u2019s youngest chef to win three Michelin stars.<\/p>\n From the wooden framed rooftop terrace, views stretch far and wide, to St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the lagoon beyond.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n To see what Ravagnan is proposing, though, you need to look up two floors, to a run of 17 large windows similarly framed by stone arches, with porthole-like windows above. Peer further upwards and you\u2019ll spot a wooden-framed terrace\u2014a distinctively Venetian altana\u2014with views over the square where, in 1609, Galileo changed the course of astronomy when he unveiled his telescope to the Doge of Venice in the bell tower.<\/p>\n The square is also where, in 1934, Mussolini and Hitler had their first, unfortunately epoch-changing, face-to-face meeting. Where, in 1966, it was flooded by six feet of acqua alta (high water). And in 1989, where Pink Floyd played a free concert to an excitable audience of 200,000 from a floating stage in St. Mark\u2019s basin.<\/p>\n A dolphin named Mimmo is one of the more unusual sights on the Venice waterways, and this property\u2014housed within the historic Procuratie Vecchie\u2014offers a unique vantage point.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n As you\u2019ll gather, from up here on the second floor of this property, which spans more than 10,700 square feet over three floors, you don\u2019t just have clear views\u2014bookended by the towering presence of the Doge\u2019s Palace and Campanile\u2014of the basin, across to tiny San Giorgio Maggiore island. You have a rare perch where you can see and touch history.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can buy a trophy asset that you can\u2019t find anywhere else in Venice,\u201d Ravagnan says. \u201cNoble families often hold on to their homes here for 100 years. That\u2019s why this is so incredible. I am selling a part of Venetian history and you can hardly put a value on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gleaming terrazzo floors and wooden-beamed ceilings retain the historic character of a property ripe for careful restoration and conversion.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n Needs must, though, when you\u2019re a realtor, and based on other deals done in recent years\u2014and the vendor\u2019s desire to sell (it\u2019s owned by a company in liquidation and shifting all its real estate assets, \u201cleaving the most beautiful and most important to last,\u201d says Ravagnan)\u2014the property has a price tag of \u20ac10 million (around $11.6 million). \u201cThis is big news,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt was originally valued at around \u20ac17 million ($19.7 million) when the company that owns it originally thought about selling. We\u2019re giving the opportunity for an investor to make an amazing deal in the best location ever at a fair price.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNoble families often hold on to their homes here for 100 years. That\u2019s why this is so incredible\u2026 you can hardly put a value on it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Michelangelo Ravagnan<\/p>\n Priced into that figure is the need to renovate the property\u2014most likely from scratch. Serving as its owner-company\u2019s showcase for Murano glassware in recent years, it has recently been emptied of its magnificent contents, including dozens of brightly coloured chandeliers dangling from the cathedral-like ceilings of its two, voluminous piano nobile rooms\u2014the floor, in finest Venetian tradition, dedicated to entertaining, dancing and generally showing off to the aristocratic great and good. Gone, too, are the wall-to-wall glass cases filled with a kaleidoscopic panoply of beautiful vases and glassware.<\/p>\n Venice’s heritage department encourages investors to turn commercial properties back into residential homes to revive the city center’s population.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n What remains, among the high, decorative wooden-beamed ceilings and traditional Venetian stone floors found in all the best palazzi, and large stone fireplaces is a (relatively) blank canvas for a buyer to turn into a trophy commercial, retail or events space. <\/p>\n Or, most excitingly, you could convert it back to residential use, which the city\u2019s heritage department would support, according to Ravagnan. \u201cThey want to encourage investors to turn commercial properties back into homes as there are only about 50,000 residents left,\u201d he says of the population of the centro storico\u2014central Venice\u2014which is about half what it was 50 years ago, and continues to fall.<\/p>\n The Procuratie Vecchie building was recently refurbished by David Chipperfield architects. And the next owner of this private property within the building will no doubt call on an equally notable architect.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n The Italian studio of the celebrated British architect David Chipperfield<\/a> was behind the Procuratie Vecchie\u2019s recent transformation\u2014and no doubt whoever buys this private property within the building will call in an architect of note to dream up its next incarnation. \u201cThe buyer would need to work with the heritage department to see how you could arrange the rooms. You could have several bedrooms, with ensuite bathrooms. You would put your bedrooms at the back and keep the main, large rooms overlooking the square\u2014maybe turning one of them into the kitchen,\u201d Ravagnan suggests.<\/p>\n The generous layout means great flexibility in planning how to transform the space. What will never change is that view.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Ravagnan’s<\/p>\n Nothing needs changing, however, about its greatest selling point: its prime position on the north side of St. Mark\u2019s Square, with a view of the lagoon. Look carefully and you may just spot Mimmo.<\/p>\n Ravagnan\u2019s<\/a> is a member of Forbes Global Properties<\/a>, the invitation-only network of top-tier brokerages worldwide and the exclusive real estate partner of Forbes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Water, water everywhere\u2014and prime views of it from this rare property on St. Mark\u2019s Square, Venice. 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