VENICE – Caffè Florian in Venice marks today its 300th anniversary. Situated in the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco, it was established in 1720, and is the oldest coffee house in continuous operation in Italy, as well as the oldest in the world. But it will not be the celebration that the historic bar had hoped for. In fact, there will not be any celebration at all.
Italy’s oldest bar will not even be open on its milestone birthday as the country locks down over Christmas in a bid to avert a third wave of Covid-19.
Like most businesses in Italy, Caffè Florian has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic over the last year.
Between the cancellation of Carnevale in February to its extended closure during the spring lockdown and the almost total absence of tourists, the bar has struggled to survive.
Far from marking the 300th anniversary, the owners have cancelled planned celebrations and instead launched a public appeal for government assistance, amid uncertain days ahead.
In the meantime Italy has marked the bar’s 300th birthday with a special commemorative stamp, available in select post offices across the country.
The landmark Venetian bar, nestled amid the arcades of the central Piazza S. Marco, has been serving locals and visitors to the lagoon city for three centuries.
Opened on 29 December 1720, Alla Venezia Trionfante – as it was called originally – was launched by Floriano Francesconi, after whom it was soon renamed.
Caffè Florian has been in business ever since. Over the centuries this elegant bar has welcomed countless cultural figures such as Casanova, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, and Andy Warhol, as well hundreds of international politicians and modern-day celebrities.
