ITALY – Venice, Palazzetto Pisani & Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello // Moonraker (1979) & Casino Royale (2006)
Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice has a special place in Bond history: Two different Bonds pursue two different Bond Women at the same location. We can’t blame him: The Palazzo really is a magic place!
Why Bond was here
In “Moonraker”, James Bond (Roger Moore) travels to Venice in Italy on the trails on industrialist Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale). The latter has a glass factory and produces cylinders for a sinister space program. The whole glass factory is a mix of many places in Venice: starting from a store at Piazza San Marco, a famous furnace on Murano island and finally the glass museum on the same island. But the exterior of the museum isn’t on Murano. The courtyard of famous Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello and the alley of the ajoining Palazzetto Pisani doubled for the place. Bond secretly follows Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) out of the museum into the courtyard, before catching up with her on yet another location – a street in Cannaregio.
Some years later in “Casino Royale”, Bond (Daniel Craig) again follows a woman through the same Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) betrayed Bond and is up to meet with the crime organization behind the betrayal. Bond pursues her, passed the courtyard – and meets Vesper and the enemies for a showdown at the sinking house next to Rialto Market.
How you gonna get there
The Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello is the music conservatory of Venice and part of Palazzo Pisani. The smaller Palazzetto Pisani is a luxury hotel in the same complex, combining the academys courtyard with the Canal Grande. You can easily enter the convervatory and then visit the courtyard to the right from the entry at Campo Santo Stefano. Nearby vaporetti stops are “Giglio” or “Samuele”. Or you stop at “Accademia” and walk over the bridge.
Good to know
The conservatory was established in 1876, today it is owned by the city. The academy offers courses in singing, music composition, choral music, orchestration and teaches playing numerous instruments. As the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello is not part of the Palazzetto Pisani, you cannot enter the courtyard from the hotel side and vice versa. Iron gates block the way. Walk along Ramo Pisani from the Campo Santo Stefano and turn left into the small Calle Ca’ Genova. The lane finishes next to Casa del Uscoli at the Canal Grande – the scene, where Bond pays a second visit to the glass museum at night, was filmed here.
Coming to the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello is a real treat. Venice is always crowded and busy, but the courtyard is not. It is like diving into another world. When we arrived, music students practised in the upper floors. Soothing piano and violin sounds poured out of the open windows and filled the courtyard with joy. The place hosted an art exhibition. We could breathe inspiration. The conservatory really is a casa dell’arte – a house of arts.
© 2022 Huntingbond (1,3), © 1979 Danjaq S.A. & United Artists Corporation & © 2006 Sony Pictures, Danjaq LLC and United Pictures Inc.