<P> The open marble fascias, often referred as "laces", quickly diffused along the Grand Canal . Among the 15th - century palaces still showing the original appearance are Ca' d'Oro, Palazzo Bernardo a San Polo, Ca' Foscari (now housing the University of Venice), Palazzo Pisani Moretta, Palazzi Barbaro, Palazzo Cavalli - Franchetti . </P> <P> By the start of the 15th century, Renaissance architecture motifs appear in such buildings as the Palazzo Dario and the Palazzo Corner Spinelli; the latter was designed by Mauro Codussi, pioneer of this style in Venice . Ca' Vendramin Calergi, another of his projects (now hosting the Casino), reveals a completed transition: the numerous and large windows with open marbles are round - arched and have columns in the three classical orders . </P> <P> Classical architecture is more evident in Jacopo Sansovino's projects, who arrived from Rome in 1527 . Along the Canal he designed Palazzo Corner and Palazzo Dolfin Manin, known for grandiosity, for the horizontal layout of the white façades and for the development around a central courtyard . Other Renaissance buildings are Palazzo Papadopoli and Palazzo Grimani di San Luca . Several palaces of this period had façades with frescoes by painters such as Il Pordenone, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, all of them unfortunately lost . Particularly noteworthy were the frescoes by Veronese and Zelotti on Ca Cappello, overlooking the Grand Canal at the intersection with the Rio de S. Polo . </P> <P> In 1582, Alessandro Vittoria began the construction of Palazzo Balbi (now housing the Government of Veneto), in which Baroque elements can be recognized: fashioned cornices, broken pediments, ornamental motifs . </P>

Is the water in venice salt or freshwater