Ca’ Vendramin is famous today for being Venice’s Casinò, and indeed the first casinò in the world. Until recently, it only held the classic French gambling games dating back centuries, but one can find more modern American-style games now, with a whole room dedicated to Texas Hold’Em Poker.
Gambling aside, the building dates back to the 15th century, and it changed hands many times before the Richard Wagner rented twenty of its rooms in 1882; he would die here only a year later, happy to spend his last days in Venice in the company of his family and gondolier. The walls in many of the rooms still have the same drapes chosen by him as a tribute to his memory.
