Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo: External staircase

This 15-century late Gothic palace takes its name from the spiral staircase (bovolo in Venetian dialect) at the rear. The helicoidal stairway develops within a tower marked by round rampant arches, finishing with a belvedere surmounted by a dome which is linked to the open gallery on five floors, one above the other.

The palace was built from 1499 on by Giovanni Candi (d. 1506), but Giorgio Spavento was the architect of the stairway.