A grand “bottega da caffè” in 1750 on the most beautiful corner of St Mark’s Square, facing the Ducal Basilica. Elegant and renowned, its fortunes continued from 1860 under Carlo Lavena. A salon of sophistication and prestige for Venice, and the perfect place for an international clientele, including many illustrious Austrian nobles, with aristocrats from the Austro- Hungarian Empire and the Hohenzollerns. A gem adored by Montesquieu and Voltaire, Goldoni and Gozzi, Wagner and Liszt, and by many famous contemporary musicians such as Rubinstein, Rostropovich, Böhm, Maag, Ughi, and Del Monaco, to the point that it became known as the café of musicians and writers. More recently, the Lavena has welcomed such writers as Moravia, Saviane, and Parise.