Palazzo Granaio is one of the most ancient buildings in the city, having been untouched by the widespread distruction of the Chioggia War in 1380. Built in 1322 or 1328 on designs by the architect Matteo Caime, it was used for keeping a stockpile of wheat for the citizens, in order to cope in the case of famines or other calamities.
It is typical of local Gothic architecture, as can be seen in the ten, symmetrically placed ogival windows, embellished with an upper cornice that couples them together. Before the tremendous reconstruction in 1912, there could be seen all the 64 Istrian stone columns which supported the upper storey, the idea of which ws to protect the wheat from the high tides. At the centre of the facade is an exquisite Gothic tabernacle with a terracotta bas-relief of the Madonna col Bambino attributed to Sansovino (16th century).
