There aren’t many places like this one in Europe. Vienna has its Central Café, Budapest has the famous New York Café, but that’s about it. And we’d argue that Venice has something even better. Caffè Florian is one of the world’s most beautiful and oldest coffee houses, located in the beautiful Piazza San Marco and in operation since 1720. You, too, can have a coffee in the same place as Goethe and Casanova. How much does coffee cost at Caffè Florian? What is its history? Let’s go over that today.
Caffè Florian – history
If anyone ever asks you what the oldest continuously operating coffee shop in the world is, for some unknown reason, the answer is… debatable. The usually cited oldest coffee shop is Cafè Procope in Paris, though there was a period where this café closed for like 50 years. Procope is still going today, though, so it’s kind of a matter of semantics whether we should treat Florian or Procope as the oldest one.
Either way, Caffè Florian was opened on December 29, 1720, originally as “Alla Venezia Trionfante” (Venice, the Triumphant). It was quickly renamed to Caffè Florian, though, after its founder, Floriano Fransceconi. At first, it was basically two not-very-fancy rooms, though it instantly captured hearts of both common and more influential people. Likes of Goethe, Casanova, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens and Marcel Proust were regular visitors of the cafe. Caffè Florian was also the only coffee house which allowed women in back when that wasn’t much of a norm at all. Likely why Casanova was such an enthusiast.
The coffee house also played a more active role in the history of Vence – in the 19th century, the Florian acted as a meeting spot for Venetian patriots plotting on how to regain independence. When the uprising broke out in 1848, the cafe acted as a temporary hospital for freedom fighters.
Caffe Florian – interiors
The oldest café still in operation in the world is not only a large chunk of Venetian history and café culture itself, but also a literal work of art. Initially undecorated, the café has developed a truly sophisticated interior over the years. In 1858, a major renovation was carried out under the direction of Lodovico Cadorina.
The re-expanding interiors were decorated with portraits and paintings by Venetian painters, Giacomo Casa, Antonio Pasciuti, Giulio Carlini and Vincenzo Rota. Most of the portraits you’ll see around the cafe, like that of Marco Polo, Titian, the Doge Francesco Morosini and others were made by Giulio Carlini, for instance.
Over the years, the cafe has also added more rooms. The portraits are in the Hall of the illustrious Men, while there’s also a Hall of the Seasons and the Sala Liberty now, the last one being from the 20th century. Over time, the cafe has become an art-piece and a place for art exhibitions.
Caffe Florian – menu, prices and atmosphere
A Polish-Jewish newspaper ‘Nasz Przegląd’ (Our Review) described Caffe Florian on October 27, 1929, like this:
Caffe Florian is a rendez-vous place of the whole world. All languages and dialects resound at its tables. A contemporary Tower of Babel. Next to a green-turban Hindu, focused and dignified, a noisy ‘American girl’, so impatiently awaiting her chance to dance till dawn on Lido. Next to an Englishman pondering “how to see Venice”, a pragmatic and widely flirtatious Hungarian woman with a laugh full of joie de vivre.
Much has not changed since. If you drop in for a coffee or an afternoon tea, you may encounter live music. Florian actually has its own orchestra – the gentlemen play a rather unvaried repertoire, but do so with grace and class unmatched. The overall service is at a very high quality – the cafe even thought about giving you little bags to protect your sweets from being snatched by seagulls prowling St Mark’s Square. An interesting note about Caffe Florian is that, traditionally, the morning shift staff are dressed differently to the evening staff.
As for the menu, it includes traditional coffees, cakes, pastries and breakfast sets in the morning, and afternoon tea in the evening. There’s also a gluten-free menu. You can check out both on the official website of Florian here.
What are the prices? For cakes and pastries, you’ll pay about €16 for a set of six biscuits or €18 for a plate of five different Florian Macarons. Most desserts reside in the range of €16-20. We hope you weren’t expecting it not to be a posh place.
Sandwiches are in the realm of €14-20. For an egg and ham croissant, you’ll pay €15, €14 for a small salmon sandwich.
The café’s most famous snacks are the breakfasts – for a Casanova breakfast, which consists of coffee/tea, fruit juice, fruit salad, a croissant, toasted white bread, butter, jam/honey, a dark chocolate cake and a small ham and cheese sandwich, you’ll pay €55. You can order them until 11am. Afterwards, you can also find full brunches for €65 and light lunches for €25-30.
What about coffee? Fortunately, it’s still very posh but not insanely pricey. For your classic espresso, you’ll pay €7, or €12 for a double. Americano and cappuccino cost €12 too, while your most expensive option is the Irish Coffee, for €21. You can also opt for some hot chocolate for €14-17 or some tea, for €13.
Caffe Florian – summary
Caffe Florian is possibly the oldest operating cafe in the world and it shows. The establishment is as much a wonderful, albeit very pricey, cafe as it is an aesthetical wonder. Even if you’re not interested in buying anything here, which would be most understandable, we’re mere mortals too, it’s still a must-see in Venice just for the vibes.
Florian is located on the St Mark’s Square, open daily from 9am to midnight. As you can imagine, space can be a problem in the high season, so do consider coming early or quite late.
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