Piazza San Marco has always been more than the ceremonial center of Venice. It was the city’s political, religious and social stage, surrounded by the Basilica di San Marco, the Doge’s Palace, the Procuratie and the Campanile. In this spectacular setting, coffee became part of Venetian public life.
Venice was one of the first European cities to encounter coffee because of its commercial links with the eastern Mediterranean. Venetian merchants traded across routes connected to the Ottoman world, where coffee was already consumed before it became fashionable in Western Europe. The drink reached Venice before it conquered many other Italian cities.
