Our Story: In Venice

Venice is a city without equal in the world.
Here, things happen that can not happen anywhere else.

It was on one morning in 1570 that the Venetians discovered for the first time the strong aroma of coffee.
It was the botanist Prospero Alfino, who had stayed a long time in Egypt,
who there discovered a drink “black in color and with a flavor similar to chicory.”
He thought that his fellow citizens would liked...And he was right.

The plant was initially known as a medicine, but it soon was used to prepare the pleasant drink.
In 1683 (though some anticipate this date to 1640 or even back to 1615) in Piazza San Marco,
under the arches of the Magistrates, the first “cafè" opeded its doors.

Since then, new shops sprang up everywhere in the city (in 1763 , there were already 218!).
They were becoming meeting places to discuss business or just to chat.
The new fashion soon swept across Italy: in Turin, Genoa, Milan, Florence and Rome.
The coffee bars became famous and important cultural centers, a meeting point
for writers, politicians and scholars of all times.
Over the years a growing number of coffee roasters worked here:
a Venetian a style in blending and roasting was born.

Cafè Venezia can be found anywhere in Venice:
here we have our roots and every aspect of the production.