Venice received a dazzling addition to its property portfolio in 1945 when Count Alvise Nicolò Mocenigo bequeathed his family's 17th-century waterfront palazzo to the city. While the ground floor hosts temporary exhibitions, the piano nobile is where you'll find a dashing collection of historic fashion, from duchess andrienne (hip-extending dresses) to exquisitely embroidered silk waistcoats. Adding to the glamour and intrigue is an exhibition dedicated to the art of fragrance; an ode to Venice's 16th-century status as Europe's capital of perfume.
Palazzo Mocenigo's opulent, chandelier-graced rooms look pretty much as they did at 18th-century A-list parties. Yet, even when flirting shamelessly under Jacopo Guarana’s 1787 Allegory of Nuptial Bliss ceiling in the Green Living Room, wise guests minded their tongues. The Mocenigos reported philosopher and sometime houseguest Giordano Bruno for heresy to the Inquisition, who subsequently tortured and burned the betrayed philosopher at the stake in Rome.
