Venice Casino

Brief information

The modern Casino of Venice does not operate in a building specially conceived for gaming, but in the historic Vendramin palace. Because of this, the place reads in two roles at once: as an active gambling establishment and as a palatial shell that the city has adapted for a new function.

Opened in 1946, the casino links itself to the tradition of the Ridotto. This early Venetian gambling establishment appeared in 1638 in the left wing of the church of San Moise and became the prototype for European casinos. This fact changes the way one looks at the current address: gambling in Venice did not begin with a separate palace, but with an embedded space inside another building.

What to notice right away

The source text says almost nothing about the appearance of the palace, so the focus here is not on decoration, but on the change of places and functions. Three confirmed points can be compared: the left wing of the church of San Moise, where the Ridotto operated; the Lido, where the gambling house was located in the early 20th century; and the Vendramin palace in the historic center, where the casino was moved after the municipality purchased the building.

The main observable detail is the Vendramin palace itself as the casino's present-day shell. It is important to read it not simply as a beautiful historic address, but as a sign that the city's gambling tradition changed form several times: from part of a church building to the resort Lido and then to a palace in the center. In this way, the name “Casino of Venice” turns out to be connected not with a single room, but with the movement of gambling through different types of urban spaces.