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Venice Celebrates Women: Caffè Florian’s Tribute to International Women’s Day
Venice is woman: the bond between the city and the Caffè Florian
Venice, feminine city par excellence, is cradled by water and forged by the ability to adapt to time and challenges.
Founded on a history of courage and determination, it is the perfect metaphor for celebrating International Women’s Day.
On this day, we celebrate the hard-won rights of women, rights that, in many parts of the world, are still far from being acquired. It is a constant ascent in an arduous journey that allows no stops.
Venice is woman: the metaphor with water brings it closer to the quintessential feminine element. The work of artist Roberto Kusterle is a tribute to this concept.
Venice is a city that cannot be touched,
a dream city that dissolves in the waters.
But its spirit remains in the cafés, palaces, and squares.
(Italo Calvino, “Invisible Cities”)
A Place of Emancipation and Inspiration
At Florian, discussions on art, politics, and literature took place, while women gained space in a world awakening from superstitions during the Enlightenment century.
Celebrating March 8th also means recognizing the value of those public spaces that have fostered meeting and sharing, allowing women to assert their voices.
Women at Florian: Between Culture and Revolution
Caffè Florian, in the heart of Venice, has been a meeting place for intellectuals, writers, artists, and travelers for centuries. Since its opening in 1720, it has given space to women, at a time when they were often marginalized. Enlightenment ideas found a home in Cafés frequented by people of all social classes, where there were no barriers of class or gender.
Until the fateful 1776!
Knowing full well how essential it is to continue to put the necessary restraint on our women even after the carnival times are over, it is decreed that in all coffee shops, women of any condition and in any attire may not enter, neither by day nor by night (…)
(The Council of Ten, January 28, 1776)
Women were the easiest target to hit in the face of the authorities’ inability to control public order. The edict was applied to all coffee shops, with the only exception granted to Florian.
The Café thus became a place of democratic sharing of a ritual that eludes class and gender distinctions: drinking coffee!
Over the decades, Florian has evolved while maintaining that character of an open space for dialogue, where female voices have played a fundamental role. Here, women have been able to confront, inspire, and create projects that have influenced the artistic and cultural scene not only of Venice but of all Europe.
Caterina Dolfin well represents a woman’s life emancipating in 18th-century Venetian society, for her role in the culture of the time but also for her divorce in 1756 from her husband. Luisa Bergalli, Elisabetta Caminer, Eleonora Duse, Countess Luisa Casati, Annina Morosini… considered the last dogaressa. The latter had made the parterre of Florian her salon where she received friends, intellectuals, admirers, and artists.
Many personalities have left a mark, even if many of them have been forgotten by history.
Celebrating 8 March also means recognising the value of the Caffè Florian as an incubator of ideas and cultural revolutions.
Florian’s Legacy: A Bridge Between Tradition and Innovation
Caffè Florian is not just a public venue but a historic place that has hosted and witnessed change. For more than three centuries, it continues to be a reference point for those seeking inspiration and freedom. In its decorated halls and in front of its steaming cups of coffee, pages of women’s history have been written, marked by boldness and submissiveness, innovation and patience, rebellion and resilience.
Today, Florian maintains this vocation: a symbol of inclusion and creativity, it is the place where the past meets and inspires the present.
