Coffee is wonderfully complementary to the pursuits of reading and writing for the energy and comfort and socialisation it affords. So it’s little surprise that one of the locations of most interest to lovers of literature that visit Venice is a coffee house. But not just any coffee house: the very oldest.

Caffè Florian enjoys a prime position in the heart of Venice, on St Mark’s Square. It was opened in 1720, originally as Caffè alla Venezia trionfante (the Café of the Triumphant Venice), and then Caffè Florian after its founder, Floriano Francesconi. At once it gained a reputation as the place to be seen. Balzac wrote of the coffee house, ‘The Florian is all together a scholarship, a theatre foyer, a reading room, a club, a confessional…’

Along with Balzac, counted among Caffè Florian’s clientele over the years are the following writers:  Carlo Goldoni, Goethe, Casanova, Lord Byron, Proust, Stravinsky, Rousseau and Charles Dickens. To take coffee at Florian’s, then, is to sit among the ghosts of some literary greats.

Why did these writers gravitate to the coffee house? For the quality of the coffee, presumably, and for the ambiance of the place. This was a café open to different social classes and, unusually (and excitingly for Casanova!), women. But perhaps the biggest draw has long been the artworks on display there: after all, art begets art. The décor is opulent and sumptuous, and the artworks beautiful and historic, so much so that Florian’s lends out pieces to art museums worldwide. So pivotal a role does Florian’s play in the Venetian art scene that it was the original home of the Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea (International Exhibition of Contemporary Art), which grew into the world-renowned Venice Biennale.

If you are visiting Venice, I highly recommend the café. For those farther afield who’d like to sample some Florian style and gourmanderie, London’s Harrods has a branch, and you can buy delicious teas, coffees and chocolates through the online shop: http://www.caffeflorian.com/shop/catalogo-gourmet-c362.html.