Sarasota (/ˌsærəˈsoʊtə/) is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Greater Tampa Bay Area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Sarasota is home to Mote Marine Laboratory, a marine rescue, research facility, an aquarium, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens and the Big Cat Habitat & Gulf Coast Sanctuary.
Mote Aquarium is your gateway to the ocean, featuring hundreds of marine animal species and windows into Mote Marine Laboratory, where real scientific research happens.
Sarasota Jungle Gardens is home to a number of fascinating birds, animals and plants. Stop by with the family and get up close and personal with resident birds and animals like flamingos, cockatoos, crocodiles, prairie dogs, hawks and much more.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable Burton Ringling and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State University assumed governance of the museum in 2000.
Cà d’Zan (/kɑːˌdə.zɑːn/) is a Mediterranean revival residence in Sarasota, Florida, adjacent to Sarasota Bay. Cà d’Zan was built in the mid-1920s as the winter retreat of the American circus mogul, entrepreneur, and art collector John Ringling and his wife Mable Burton Ringling. The name Cà d’Zan means “House of John” in the Venetian language, in Italian it would be “Casa di Giovanni”.
