Caffe Florian: The Story of Italy's Oldest Cafe in St Mark's Square

On 29 December 1720, a Venetian named Floriano Francesconi opened a coffee shop of two simply furnished rooms under the arcades of the Procuratie Nuove, on St Mark’s Square. He called it Alla Venezia Trionfante, “Venice the Triumphant.” Customers ignored the grand name and simply said they were going to Floriano’s. More than three centuries later, Caffè Florian is still open, still on the same square, and widely described as the oldest café in Italy still in business.

Its story is part coffee history, part Venetian theater. Some of it is well documented, and some of it is the kind of legend that grows around any place where famous people once drank coffee. Here is how to tell the two apart, and how to enjoy Florian today.

Key takeaways

• Caffè Florian opened on 29 December 1720, founded by Floriano Francesconi, under the name Alla Venezia Trionfante.
• Its regulars over the centuries reportedly included Carlo Goldoni, Goethe, Casanova, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens and Marcel Proust.
• The popular claim that Florian was the only café that admitted women is more complicated: Venetian authorities banned women from coffeehouses in 1767 and again in 1776.
• Florian is linked to the birth of the Venice Biennale, whose first exhibition opened in 1895.
• Expect premium prices and, when the orchestra plays, a music cover charge on the terrace.

Venice, the European gateway for coffee

Venice was a natural home for early coffee culture. Its merchants traded with the Ottoman Empire, and by the 18th century the city had a dense network of botteghe da caffè, small coffee shops that were part café, part club and part news exchange. A historian of the period describes them as places where Venetians of many classes met, talked and gossiped, and where the state watched them closely.

Florian opened into that world. Its spot on St Mark’s Square, steps from the basilica and the Doge’s Palace, made it the place to see and be seen.

Floriano and the early years

Floriano Francesconi ran the café himself, and his name stuck so firmly that the official name faded. According to Italian accounts, the café formally became Caffè Florian in 1797, the year the Venetian Republic fell, when “Venice the Triumphant” was no longer a comfortable sign to hang over the door.

Ownership stayed in the family for a long time. It passed from Floriano’s relatives to Valentino Francesconi and then, in 1814, to his son Antonio. By 1858 the business was in other hands.

Florian and the state inquisitors

Coffeehouses were political spaces, and the Venetian Republic knew it. A study of Venetian coffee culture notes that Floriano kept the state inquisitors informed about the card games and conversations of foreign diplomats in his rooms, a practical way to protect his business in a city where the authorities could close a café overnight.

Famous patrons: what we know

Every historic café has its list of celebrity customers, and Florian’s is long. The names most consistently linked to it include:

• Carlo Goldoni, the Venetian playwright whose comedy La bottega del caffè (1750) put a Venetian coffee shop on stage. Some Italian sources say Floriano inspired the honest café owner Ridolfo; treat that as tradition rather than proof.
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who visited Venice on his Italian journey.
• Giacomo Casanova. A popular story says he stopped at Florian for one last coffee before fleeing Venice; historians consider it probably an anecdote.
• Lord Byron, Charles Dickens and Marcel Proust in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Longer lists online add Mozart, Vivaldi, Hemingway, Chaplin, Warhol and others. Some are plausible, many are repeated without evidence. A good rule: enjoy the names, but do not build your trip around any single anecdote.

Did Florian really welcome women?

You will often read that Florian was the only café in Venice that allowed women, which supposedly explains why Casanova liked it. The documented history is more interesting.

Women did go to Venetian coffeehouses in the 18th century, as customers, as workers and sometimes as owners. But the authorities grew uneasy. In 1767 the state inquisitors barred women from entering coffeehouses, and in 1776 they banned serving women there, masked or unmasked. Café owners pushed back, asking to serve women in separate rooms or standing at the counter, because they did not want to lose those customers.

So Florian may well have had a reputation for welcoming women, but it operated under the same rules as every other café. The real story is a city arguing about who could sit where, and coffee was at the center of it.

The rooms, the revolution and the Biennale

Florian grew from two rooms into a series of small, richly decorated salons. Among them are the Sala del Senato (Senate Hall), the Sala Cinese (Chinese Room) and Sala Orientale, the Sala degli Uomini Illustri (Hall of Illustrious Men) and Sala delle Stagioni (Hall of the Seasons), added in 1872 and 1891, and the Sala Liberty, added in 1920.

During the 1848 revolution against Austrian rule, the Senate Hall was a meeting place for Venetian patriots, and the café took in wounded fighters as a temporary hospital.

Florian also has a place in art history. The idea for an international art exhibition in Venice, which became the Venice Biennale, is traditionally linked to discussions at the café led by mayor Riccardo Selvatico in the 1890s. Accounts differ on the exact year of that conversation, but the first exhibition opened in 1895.

Caffè Florian timeline

Visiting Caffè Florian today

• Decide where to sit. The terrace on the square is the full experience. When the orchestra is playing, a music cover charge is added per person (Time Out lists €6); check the menu before you order.
• Go inside for the rooms. Even a short coffee lets you see the painted salons and mirrors.
• Stand at the bar for a quicker visit. Time Out suggests the bar inside as a way to avoid the music charge.
• Expect high prices. You are paying for the square, the service and three centuries of history.
• Time it well. Early morning and late evening are calmer than midday, when the square is packed.
• Order something classic. A short espresso, a cappuccino in the morning, or a hot chocolate in winter.

A Venetian-style cup at home

Italian coffee culture favors short, intense, dark coffee. Our Italian Roast is our darkest roast, a slow-roasted blend of specialty-grade Arabica and Robusta with smoky, intense dark chocolate notes and a thick crema, made for exactly that kind of espresso. Pull a short shot, add a little sugar if you like, and drink it standing at your counter, the way most Italians do every day. For more Italian blends, browse our blend collection.

Caffè Florian FAQ

Is Caffè Florian the oldest café in Italy?

It is widely described as the oldest café in Italy still operating, open since 29 December 1720. Some sources go further and call it the oldest in the world, which is harder to support, since older coffeehouses existed elsewhere.

Who founded Caffè Florian?

Floriano Francesconi, who opened it as Alla Venezia Trionfante. Customers called it Floriano’s, and the name stuck.

Did Casanova really drink coffee at Florian?

He is often listed among its patrons, and it is plausible, but the famous story of his last coffee before escaping Venice is probably an anecdote.

Why is Caffè Florian so expensive?

Its prime location on St Mark’s Square, table service, historic rooms and live music all come at a premium. Coffee at the bar inside is a cheaper way to visit.

Sources

1. Zanini-Cordi, Irene. “Botteghe da Caffè, Sociability and Gender in Eighteenth-Century Venice.” NeMLA Italian Studies. PDF
2. Wikipedia, “Caffè Florian”, accessed 2026. Link
3. Geopop, “Caffè Florian a Venezia: la storia della caffetteria più antica ancora in attività”. Link
4. Time Out, “Caffè Florian, Venice”. Link

Facts checked in October 2026.

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