Seems to be used exclusively for places in Venice?

Famous places like Ca'D'Oro but a lot of B&B's have names starting with Ca'.

I figured it had something to do with water because I didn't see too many other places in Italy with this convention. Or I didn't notice it before.

Asked an Italian and he didn't recognize it. So it could be a regional dialect thing.

What does Ca'San Polo mean (it's the name of a B&B)?

How do you pronounce it?

Is there an elision as the apostrophe suggests?

I believe Ca' is short for casa, which means "house."

I've always pronounced it like "kah." but I'm no expert.

Yeah I slapped my forehead after thinking about it a bit.

Again, must be a Venetian thing.

Yes, it is Venetian dialect or "dialetto Venexiano" for "casa"

In Piedmont it's short form or dialect for "Cascina" or farmhouse, hence that's why you see agriturismo's and wineries with the name Ca XXXX. House names here are always Casa YYYY.

Hi scrb, yes the Venetian dialect, ca for casa and prounced "kah". The dialect in the region of Veneto is rather different..my ear will pick it up when in Italy..more of a singsong sound for lack of a better description.