History of the term casino

The term "Casino" originally meant a small villa, summerhouse orpavilion built for pleasure, usually on the grounds of a larger Italianvilla or palazzo. There are examples of such casinos at Villa Giuliaand Villa Farnese. In modern day Italian, this term designates abordello (also called "casa chiusa", literally "closed house"), while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent.
One of the first known casinos was established in Venice around 1638. During the 19th century, the term "casino" came to include other public buildings where pleasurable activities, including gambling, and sports took place. An example of this type of building is the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island.
Not all casinos were used for gaming. The Copenhagen Casino was a theatre, known for the use made of its hall for mass public meetings during the 1848 Revolution which made Denmark aconstitutional monarchy. Until 1937 it was a well-known Danish theatre. The Hanko Casino located in Hanko, Finland - one of that town's most conspicuous landmarks - was never used for gambling. Rather, it was a banquet hall for the Russian nobility which frequented this spa resort in the late 1800s, and is presently used as a restaurant.