Secret letters from a Venetian palazzo

A story of passionate letters, written partly in code, that both divided and brought together four people from leading Venetian families. In the 1750s, Andrea Memmo and Giustiniana Wynne were deeply in love but their different social standing stopped them from even being seen in public together. Marriage was out of the question. To arrange their frequent assignations, Andrea and Giustiniana had to resort to coded letters, hand-delivered by faithful servants.

Count Alvise di Robilant, a 20th-Century descendant of Memmo, found and deciphered the lovers' letters but was murdered before he could publish them. His son Andrea, to whom it fell to finish the project, tells us how the letters brought him closer to his father, to his 18th-Century ancestor and to the city of Venice itself.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Producer: Radek Boschetty

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(Photo: A collage of four photos, clockwise from top left: the facade of Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice, portrait of Andrea di Robilant, Alvise di Robilant looking out to the sea, portrait of Alvise di Robilant. Credit: Andrea di Robilant/Getty Images)