Palazzo da Mula

Palazzo da Mula is a villa on the island of Murano in the Venice Lagoon, standing on the sub-island of San Pietro Martire on the south bank of the Canale degli Angeli near the Ponte Vivarini. It was originally built by the Diedo family, and the Da Mula family acquired it in 1621, holding it until 1712, when it was leased to the family of Giacomo Fontanella. Dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is described as the last surviving Venetian villa built on Murano in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in the Late Venetian Gothic style, built of reddish brick with decorative details in white Istrian marble; unusually for a Venetian palace, its water side portal opens onto the street rather than directly onto the canal. The palazzo now serves as a municipal office, housing the registry offices of the Municipality of Venice-Murano-Burano, while its main floor is used for cultural activities.