VENICE, Italy – Venice’s Caffè Florian, the world’s oldest coffee house, is preparing to celebrate its 300th anniversary in 2020. Caffè Florian is a historic coffee house in Venice, located under the arcades of Piazza San Marco. Opened December 29, 1720 by Floriano Francesconi with the name of “Alla Venezia Trionfante” is the oldest in Italy and, together with the Parisian Café Procope, the oldest in the world.
Since its opening it had a great success at the high Venetian society, so much so that the original rooms had to be added two more (the Sala Orientale and the Sala del Senato).
Over the centuries this elegant bar has welcomed countless cultural figures: from Carlo Goldoni to whom he inspired “La Bottega del caffè”, to Giacomo Casanova, passing through Ugo Foscolo up to Gabriele D’Annunzio and Silvio Pellico.
There is also a large number of foreign artists and visitors who have left their trail: Wagner, Stendhal, Goethe, Shelley, Byron, Nietzsche.
In the rooms of the Florian it seems to relive the times gone and not difficult to fantasize about the conversations of the illustrious visitors who preceded us, a fascinating atmosphere to which also contribute the beautiful rooms where lights, mirrors, precious woods and decorations make each room a kind of museum where history continues to live.
At the Florian you still come today for its artisan confectionery, for aperitifs to sip outdoors and for the wide selection of coffee blends made exclusively.
The second-oldest coffee house in Italy is Rome’s Caffè Greco, which was founded in 1760, forty years after Caffè Florian.
