Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
Caffè Florian is a historic café in the city of Venice, located under the porticoes of the Procuratie Nuove in Piazza San Marco. It is part of the association of Historic Places of Italy. It was the first café in Italy and in the world to be opened. It was inaugurated on 29 December 1720 by Floriano Francesconi with the name Alla Venezia Trionfante, but from the very beginning the Venetians simply said “let's go to Florian's”, from the name of the owner in Venetian dialect. Since then it has continued its daily café activity uninterruptedly up to the present day, becoming a privileged destination for Venetians, Italians and foreigners. Floriano Francesconi inspired the character of Ridolfo in Carlo Goldoni's Bottega del caffè. Giacomo Casanova courted ladies there and Carlo Goldoni entered as a boy. Illustrious figures frequented it, such as Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gasparo Gozzi, Giuseppe Parini, Silvio Pellico, Lord Byron, Ugo Foscolo, Charles Dickens, Goethe, Ernest Hemingway, Rousseau, Gabriele D'Annunzio. During the 1848 insurrection, led by Niccolò Tommaseo and Daniele Manin, the café became a hospital for the wounded. Like other cafés located in Piazza San Marco, outdoor patrons are entertained by a small orchestra. Musical accompaniment, however, requires a supplement on drinks. A particularity is the uniforms of the café staff: the chef de rang has a black bow tie, the two demi-chefs grey, and the commis white. The waiters wear white jackets in the morning, while in the afternoon the chef wears a tailcoat and the other employees wear black jackets. In the café two orchestras alternate.
Caffè Florian is a historic café in the city of Venice, located under the porticoes of the Procuratie Nuove in Piazza San Marco. It is part of the association of Historic Places of Italy. It was the first café in Italy and in the world to be opened. It was inaugurated on 29 December 1720 by Floriano Francesconi with the name Alla Venezia Trionfante, but from the very beginning the Venetians simply said “let's go to Florian's”, from the name of the owner in Venetian dialect. Since then it has continued its daily café activity uninterruptedly up to the present day, becoming a privileged destination for Venetians, Italians and foreigners. Floriano Francesconi inspired the character of Ridolfo in Carlo Goldoni's Bottega del caffè. Giacomo Casanova courted ladies there and Carlo Goldoni entered as a boy. Illustrious figures frequented it, such as Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gasparo Gozzi, Giuseppe Parini, Silvio Pellico, Lord Byron, Ugo Foscolo, Charles Dickens, Goethe, Ernest Hemingway, Rousseau, Gabriele D'Annunzio. During the 1848 insurrection, led by Niccolò Tommaseo and Daniele Manin, the café became a hospital for the wounded. Like other cafés located in Piazza San Marco, outdoor patrons are entertained by a small orchestra. Musical accompaniment, however, requires a supplement on drinks. A particularity is the uniforms of the café staff: the chef de rang has a black bow tie, the two demi-chefs grey, and the commis white. The waiters wear white jackets in the morning, while in the afternoon the chef wears a tailcoat and the other employees wear black jackets. In the café two orchestras alternate.
