On the Riva di Biasio, between the vaporetto (water bus) stop and the neighbouring palaces, a building looks onto the Grand Canal that paid for Venice’s history first-hand: Palazzo Zen, once home of the very ancient Zen family, was set on fire during the Austrian bombardment of 1849 — when the Republic of San Marco of Daniele Manin was resisting the last siege in its history — and was rebuilt, keeping the sober appearance it still shows beside the richer Palazzo Marcello Toderini.