Palazzo da Mula (da Mula Palace), Venice

Standing along Murano’s Grand Canal, just a short stroll from the Vivarini Bridge, the da Mula Palace is the kind of building that looks calm, elegant—and quietly unimpressed by the passage of time. Dating back to the 12th or 13th century, it has been remodeled more than once, but its façade remains stubbornly intact. Venetian Gothic arches frame the windows, while fragments of Venetian-Byzantine decoration still cling to the surface: stone paterae shaped like shallow dishes, patterned tiles, and ornamental details that feel more whispered than announced. It’s a façade that does the talking, so the building doesn’t have to...

The palace began life as a summer retreat for the da Mula family, part of a familiar Venetian habit of escaping the city’s heat by relocating to the lagoon islands. Murano, breezier and quieter, was an appealing seasonal refuge. Over time, however, practicality took over. The arrival of a glass factory inside the building brought heavy structural changes, gradually stripping the interior of most of its original features. What survives today is less a preserved noble residence and more a shell that has adapted—again and again—to new uses.

These days, the da Mula Palace has settled into a second life that suits its pared-back interior. Temporary art exhibitions rotate through its spaces, while municipal offices quietly occupy the building on alternating days. It’s an arrangement that feels very Murano: history on the outside, functionality within. Pause here for a moment, take in the façade, and you’ll see how this palace tells a familiar island story—one of beauty, reuse, and constant adjustment to the demands of work, craft, and daily life...