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With its glitzy palaces, grand churches, and charming canals, Venice offers no shortage of sights, but it can sometimes be hard to catch every single detail of this wonderful city. One such curious detail is known as the Marforio Dragon Lamp.
Every day, unsuspecting tourists pass under this magnificent and elaborate lamp without notice, but if they were to look up, they would be wowed by one of Venice's most intricately designed markers. On the corner of Campo San Salvador, in the thick of the city's attractions, this mysterious black dragon, made of wrought iron, has been holding three colorful glass umbrellas in its jaws since the late 1800s.
The dragon was originally a signpost for the famous Fabbrica Ombrelli Bartolomeo Marforio, a historic umbrella and leather shop founded in Venice in 1875. Run by the same Venetian family for 5 generations, the store was quite well known by locals for its high-quality goods. It's not known why a dragon was specifically chosen as the store's ambassador, but it's safe to say that the beautifully constructed statue added to the shop's allure.
While the store sadly closed in the late 2010s, its external lamp signpost fortunately remains as a relic of Venice's artisan past.
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The lamp is seemingly not currently lit at night, but it was wired in the past.
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Published
November 11, 2025
