Itinéraire Casanova (1725-1798)

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (Venice, April 2, 1725-Dux, Duchcov today, June 4, 1798) was an adventurer, a writer, a poet, an alchemist, a mathematician, a philosopher and a Venetian secret agent. He was born in Calle Malipiero (formerly Calle della Commedia). He was baptized in the Church of San Samuele. Nearby San Samuele there were the Teatro Grimani, where lived the natural father of Casanova, the nobleman Michele Grimani. Now it is a school. He lived with his grandmother until the age of 14 in the Court of the Muneghe 2979. He spent his youth at Palazzo Malipiero, under the protection of Senator Malipiero. In the Court of the Duke Sforza was the home of Teresa Imer, his first lover. In Campo San Maurizio lived the Venetian erotic poet Giorgio Baffo, who exerted a profound influence on young Casanova, introducing him to the art of seduction. It was exactly Baffo who accompanied Casanova during his first trip to Padova Burchiello to discover the pleasures of the world. In Rialto, in Sotoportego dei Do Mori, you can find the homonym sixteenth century tavern, which prepares “cicheti” and the typical Venetian dishes, at that time frequented by Casanova. In Campo de Beccarie there is the ancient tavern “Poste Vecie restaurant”, opened from ‘500, where Casanova sometimes granted himself a banquet. In Barbaria de le Tole, 6673 in the Castello district, there is the last house where he lived. Behind Piazza San Marco, in Calle Vallaresso, it was the famous Ridotto, now part of the Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal. The Ridotto was the site preferred by Venetians and not for weddings, ceremonies and celebrations, but that was once also the gambling house where Casanova, hiding behind a mysterious disguise, spent many hours gambling in company of Venetian patricians , waiting for one of his amorous encounters. In the terrible prisons located under the roof of the Ducal Palace, called Piombi, Casanova was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment, but he managed to escape after 15 months through a hole in the ceiling. Murano is the last leg of our journey to the places of Casanova. In this island it was consumed one of the most legendary adventures of the seducer: the love affair with MM, a mysterious enclosed nun from the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Getting off at Venier Stop, you can still find the wooden jetty and the door of the convent from which the nun came out, accompanied by a young companion: they were both lovers of Casanova, who was waiting for them in a gondola, in the dark of night.