February 4, 2020 Comments Off on World’s oldest coffee house is turning 300 Views: 541 Urban Trekker

One of the world’s oldest coffee houses is in Venice, and in 2020 it’s celebrating its 300th anniversary.

The lagoon city is appreciated for its unique architecture, its maze of channels and bridges, and world-famous sights such as Piazza San Marco. And lurking under the arcades of the Procuratie Nuove in Piazza San Marco is another city symbol–Caffè Florian.

That is the oldest continuously working coffee shop in Italy, and alongside one other coffee shop in Paris–Café Le Procope, it is also the oldest continuously-operated coffee house in the world. The Parisian cafe is slightly older, having first opened in 1686, while Caffè Florian first opened on December 29th, 1720.

Initially, caffè Florian was called “Alla Venezia Trionfante” (Triumphant Venice). However, locals began referring to the place after its first founder, Floriano Francesconi, and the name stuck. Epochs changed. Mayors came in and came out as did merchant ships via the ports of the city. But the coffee spot on Piazza S Marco stood.

The place would never cease to attract famous and influential persons, artists and politicians alike. These would include one of the most notorious womanizers in history, Casanova, famous poets such as Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, and great writers such as Ernest Hemingway, to name just a few.

Its Senate Hall (Sala del Senato) is adorned with paintings that contain Masonic symbols, alluding to Venice’s close ties with secret societies and illuminism. There is also a Chinese Hall (Sala Cinese) and Oriental Hall (Sala Orientale), where the paintings allude to Asia and the Far East from where the Venetian merchants brought riches but also the plague to Europe. There is also an art nouveau style room added on the occasion of Caffè Florian’s 200th anniversary.

The coffee house is now gearing to celebrate its 300th anniversary, but it’s also recovering from the devastating floodings that hit Venice last year.

The venue was directly affected by the floods since the entire Piazza San Marco was overwhelmed by the highest tides to hit Venice in the last five decades. According to the coffee house owners, the floods inflicted damage worth €100,000 on their properties. Repairments meant the venue remained closed for a while, but fortunately, work resumed soon after.

Italy can also take pride in having another coffee shop on the top 3 world’s oldest list. That is Antico Caffe Greco, a historic landmark cafe in Rome that opened in 1760. So, if you are coffee snob coming to Italy, add these two coffee shops on your bucket list.

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Tags: coffee house, Italy, places to check-in, venice, world's oldest