The Fondaco del Megio is a palace in the sestiere

Sestiere

A sestiere is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from sesto, or sixth; and is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example are the sestieri of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, Milan and Rapallo, for example, were also divided into sestieri...

(quarter]) of Santa Croce

Santa Croce

Santa Croce is one of the six sestieri of Venice, northern Italy.-Geography:It occupies the north west part of the main islands, and can be divided into two areas: the eastern area being largely mediaeval, and the western - including the main port and the Tronchetto - mostly lying on land reclaimed...

, Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Located near the Palazzo Belloni Battagia

Palazzo Belloni Battagia

Palazzo Belloni Battagia is a palace on the Canal Grande, Venice, northern Italy. It is included in the sestiere of Santa Croce, between the Fondaco del Megio and Ca' Tron, near the church of San Stae.It was built in the mid-17th century under design by Baldassarre Longhena, as the residence of...

 and the Fondaco dei Turchi

Fondaco dei Turchi

The Fondaco dei Turchi is a Veneto-Byzantine style palazzo on the Grand Canal of Venice, northeast Italy.-Early history:...

, it faces the Canal Grande and is opposed to the church of San Marcuola of Cannaregio

Cannaregio

Cannaregio is the northernmost of the six historic sestieri of Venice. It is the second largest sestiere by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people as of 2007....

.

It was built in the 13th century as a grain depot, but later was used to store millet, maintaining this function until the fall of the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 in 1797. It currently houses an elementary school.

The palace is build in brickwork. There are three portals at the ground floor and thirteen small windows. Decorations include a row of merlon

Merlon

In architecture, a merlon forms the solid part of an embattled parapet, sometimes pierced by embrasures. The space between two merlons is usually called a crenel, although those later designed and used for cannons were called embrasures.-Etymology:...

s at the top, and a basrelief with the Lion of St. Mark (a modern reconstruction of the original, which was placed on every public building of the Republic).