the succession of two window bays over each of the ground-floor arches, the elongated stilted arch, characteristic of the Veneto-Byzantine tradition in Venice, was updated with Renaissance semi-circular arches, supported on fluted Corinthian columns. Also, the columns on the ground floor, reminiscent of the Doge's Palace, were replaced with square Doric pillars. This adhered to Leon Battista Alberti's recommendation in his architectural treatise, De re aedificatoria, that in larger structures the column, inherited from Greek architecture, should only support an entablature, whereas the arch, inherited from Roman mural construction, should be supported on square pillars so that the resulting arcade appears to be the residual of "a wall open and discontinued in several places". Later history The Procuratie Vecchie was rental property managed by the procurators de supra for much of its history. At various times, the shops on the ground floor housed a goldsmith, glazier, cobbler, engraver, tailor, spice merchant, painter, cutler, old-clothes seller, barber, bookseller, and notary. In 1638, the 'Rimedio' wine shop opened. It was subsequently purchased by Giorgio Quadri and transformed into Caffè Quadri. Other coffeeshops in the Procuratie Vecchie eventually included 'Re di Francia', 'Abbondanza', 'Pitt l'eroe', 'Orfeo', 'Redentore', 'Coraggio', 'Speranza', and 'Specchi'. 'Alla Regina d'Ungheria', the modern-day Caffè Lavena, opened in 1750. Due to the enviable site, the rents for the apartments above were relatively expensive, ranging from 40 to 70 ducats a year in 1569. But during the war for the control of Crete against the Ottomans (1645–1669), it was necessary to sell the apartments in order to raise money to finance the war effort. Although the apartments were later repurchased by the procurators, they were definitively sold in 1717. Inside the Procuratie Vecchie, several of the apartments were subsequently transformed into small gathering places for entertaining, relaxation, and, at times, gambling. These were termed either casini (little houses) or ridotti (probably derived from meaning to go, typically to a place of meeting or gathering). Most notably, the Procuratie Vecchie housed the 'Casin dei nobili', a large clubhouse for noblemen located on the first floor, and the casino for foreign diplomats, who were not permitted to socialize with the Venetian aristocracy, located in the wing of the Procuratie Vecchie on the western side of the square. Procuratie Nuove Historical background In sharp contrast to the newly built Procuratie Vecchie on the northern side of Saint Mark's Square, the southern side was still lined