VENEDK - ing-

History and culture


The first human settlements on the Venice Lagoon islands date back to the 5th and 6th centuries, when the inhabitants from the mainland came to this semi-swamp area to escape the barbaric invasions that followed the fall of the Roman Empire. The populations coming from mainland Venice settled in the lagoon, fighting as hard as they could to survive: little by little this group of pieces of land surrounded by water took on the semblance of a real town, a town that was so unique and special that it would become the only one of its kind in the world. The new inhabitants built several rafts of various sizes, supported by strong wooden poles that were fixed to the underside. The rafts were connected to each other with wooden walkways and houses, buildings and monuments were then built on them.

When Venice had a big enough population to begin to deserve the title of city, it was then annexed to the Byzantine Empire, while maintaining its own independence. In 697, Venice elected its first Doge, giving life to a new government: the Dogado (Maritime Empire). However, the event that finally made Venice’s name in the world took place in 828, when two enterprising Venetian merchants stole the Apostle Mark’s body from Alessandria in Egypt, and secretly transported it to Venice. A huge church, consecrated in 1094, was built to house the remains of the Saint, who then became the patron saint of the city: the Basilica of San Marco.

Since the very beginning, Venice showed strong inclinations towards trade. This increased to the point that at the end of the 11th century, the city set up close trading connections with Byzantium. This was the start of the Republic of Venice, which was finally consecrated in 1202 through the 4th crusade that saw the conquering of Byzantium and then the islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas. The eastern city was sacked and the booty was taken to Venice, where it was used to decorate churches and palaces. The four bronze horses that still adorn the main facade of the Basilica of San Marco were also part of that booty.

After the 4th crusade, Venice gained a strong political role due to the fact that it now controlled a large part of the Mediterranean and it also increased its military power and its trading.

The city’s historical rivalry with Genoa exploded under the form of four wars that were fought one after the other until a truce was finally agreed at the end of 1381, when Venice beat Genoa in the famous Battle of Chioggia (1380). Venice then realized that it was necessary for the city to have bases on the mainland too and began to expand towards Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Brescia and Bergamo. Venice’s prestige grew at the same rate as the increase in the land it controlled and was thus given the name of Serenissima. However,



danger was round the corner: the Serenissima was so busy expanding on the mainland that it did not realize that the Turks’ power was expanding rapidly, to the point where they took over
Constantinople (Byzantium) and some cities on the Greek and Albanian coastlines.

The League of Cambrai was founded in 1508: this was a sort of coalition against Venice which most of the European powers joined. Venice managed to maintain some of its land after seven years of war, but it lost its control over the Mediterranean.

In the 17th century, the Serenissima had to give up Crete, one of its historical lands and the whole of the Peloponnesus area to the Turkish Empire. In the period that followed, Venice’s political power was seriously damaged but there was a considerable increase of the arts and literature in the city, which gave rise to the creation of works of art by Tiepolo, Pietro Longhi and Canova and to theatre plays by Carlo Goldoni.

In 1797, Napoleone Bonaparte conquered Venice, and sacked the whole area, just as he did in the rest of the country. A short while later the Emperor handed over the city to Austria, a ruler that was never accepted by the Venetians: in 1848, the Austrians were run out of the city by a group led by Daniele Manin, and the second Republic of Venice was proclaimed. This new republic did not last for long, however, as Venice was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

Shopping



Venice is a true paradise for real shopping fans: you can find everything in Venice, from souvenir shops with Carnival masks and Murano glass items, to the most luxurious high fashion boutiques.

The glass objects made in the kilns on the island of Murano by master glass blowers are an old tradition that are made using techniques that have been handed down over the centuries. The many glassworks in Venice and Murano offer any type of objects, for all tastes and wallets; there are Venini lamps and ashtrays, vases and small colored animals. with regards to jewelry, one popular souvenir is la murrina: this is a slim round pendant in colored glass with spiral or flower patterns that is hung on a gold or silver chain around your neck. As well as the traditional jewelers’ shops in Venice there are also some shops that sell necklaces made with colored Venetian glass pearls, that can sometimes be bought loose too so that you can use them to make some personalized jewelry yourself.

While walking through the streets and lanes of Venice, you will also see a large number of mask shops. This is another popular craft item in Venice which are made in terracotta or in pottery.




If you want to take some food home as a souvenir, you can also buy some packages of typical Venetian sweets, such as the Zaeti that can be bought in one of the many cake shops in Venice.

Those of you who like to do famous name shopping can instead go on a tour of the fashion streets, the most important being the famous Mercerie: this is Venice’s main shopping street that connects Piazza San Marco to Rialto and where you can find boutiques such as Max Mara, Sergio Rossi, Cartier, Krizia, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and many others too. Calle XXII Marzo is also well worth a visti: here you can find Bulgari, Bruno Magli, Versace, Damiani.




Eating and Drinking



Venetian cuisine, especially that in the city, is full of traditional dishes that are mostly made using all types of fish and vegetables, with only one limit: the seasons. Indeed it is hard to find dishes on the menus of the restaurant in Venice that have ingredients that are out of season.
We can begin our journey to discover Venetian food with cicchetti (hors d’oevres) that can be found in all the bacari (pubs) counters, that must be eaten with an ombra (glass) of wine. Typical Venetian cicchetti are: fried crab claws, meat balls,half boiler eggs with anchovies, fried vegetables, moscardini (tiny octopus) with polenta, soppressa with polenta and toasted bread with creamed cod, i.e. cooked in milk and then creamed. However, the best hors d’oeuvre by far are the sardee in saor: these are sardines cooked and marinated with onions and vinegar and flavored with raisins and pine nuts.

For pasta dishes, the Venetian cuisine has a lot of different specialties to offer. The risottos, made with scampi or cuttlefish, are famous, although the best known recipe is for risi e bisi, the risotto made with peas that the Doges ate on San Marco’s day. Pasta dishes included spaghetti with clams, spaghetti with cuttlefish ink, bigoli in sauce (bigoli are a sort of long thin pasta with a hole in the middle, with an anchovies and onions sauce), and the popular pasta e fagioli, a tasty winter pasta and bean soup that is served in both the pubs and in the best restaurant in Venice.

For main fish courses, we recommend you try the scampi alla busara, with tomato and chilli pepper, cooked in sauce and cuttlefish cooked in sauce, all accompanied by polenta. Fried moeche is also very popular; these are small crabs fished during the changeover period (spring and fall) when their shells are soft and edible. The most typical main meat course is fegato alla veneziana: this is soft veal liver stewed with a lot of onions.





An entire chapter is needed to talk of the castraure, the famous purple artichokes that are grown on the islands in the lagoon, especially on Sant’Erasmo. They are rare and precious, and were recently classified by Slow Food. They can be eaten in several different ways but only during the harvesting period , which runs from the end of April until the second half of June.

All these wonderful dishes must be accompanied by Venetian wines: Prosecco di
Conegliano,Valpolicella, Bianco di Custoza and Amarone. Finally, after the meal we recommend you try a sgroppino (lemon sorbet and prosecco) or a small glass of Bassano Grappa. However, first you must try some typical Venetian sweets such as zaeti, biscuits prepared with polenta flour and raisins and bussolai buranelli, butter biscuits made in a round shape that are wonderful when dunked in sweet Vin Santo.


Hotels and lodgings

Venice has a wide range of accommodation on offer: you can choose one of the hotels in Venice
of all categories depending on your needs, from the one star to the luxurious five star hotels, bed and breakfast eshtablishes in Venice or residences in Venezia Mestre , room rentals and period houses.

If you decide to organize a holiday in the period that goes from spring to the fall, you could also choose to experience a stay in one of the wonderful Liberty Villas that have been turned into hotels on the Venecie Lido.

Another extremely charming area is the Riviera del Brenta: hotels and bed & breakfasts in the area are the ideal base for visiting all the architectural wonders of the Riviera.









Places and charm



The most charming places that can be discovered walking around the city: from Piazza San Marco to the Ghetto...
San Marco
• Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco is the only “Piazza” in Venice, as all the other square are given the name “Campo”. From the very beginning, Piazza San Marco was designed and built as an extension of Palazzao Ducale and the San Marco Basilica , the true centers of political and social life in Venice. The space originally taken up by the square was rather narrow and had a canal running through it: the Rio Batario. In 1172, the Doge Sebastiano Ziani bought the whole area and reclaimed the canal. He then had extension work started which ended in the Piazza San Marco that we now know today.
Opposite the Palazzo Ducale, and in place of the old wharf, a small square was created where two tall columns coming from Constantinople were installed. A winged lion was placed on one column, which is the symbol of Venice, and on the other column there was a statue of San Teodoro, the old patron saint of Venice, who was then replaced by San Marco.
The larger part of the square that stretches out in front of the Basilica, is 170 meters long and is trapezium shaped. The edge of the square is bordered by the old and new Procuratie, and the Napoleonic Wing which is now the home of the Correr Museum.
• The Bridge of Sighs
This is one of the most popular tourist sights in Venice. The bridge connects the Palazzo Ducale, where prisoners were tried, to the prisons known as the Piombi. The


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bridge was built on the orders of the Doge Mario Grimani and was made in stone from Istria. It was decorated on the outside with Baroque patterns. The beauty of the structure has given the bridge a romantic connotation in complete contrast to its actual use. The sighs that the bridge inspired were definitely not sighs from people in love, but from the prisoners who had just been sentenced to years in jail in the terrible “piombi”.
• Mercerie
The Mercerie cut the old city center into two parts, connecting Piazza San Marco to Rialto. This is Venice’s main throughway, the heart of the city’s commercial trade since ancient times when the precious fabric shops stayed open until late. The
• Mercerie are divided into three parts: Mercerie dell’oroloio (that starts from Piazza San Marco), Mercerie de San Zulian and Mercerie di San Salvador, that come out right on Campo San Salvador, next to Campo San Bortolo. All the Mercerie are full of
• shops and boutiques of all kinds: from luxury jewelers such as Cartier and Rolex to fashion boutiques such as Sergio Rossi for shoes and Krizia for clothes.

Cannaregio
• The Jewish Ghetto
The Venice Ghetto was the first to be set up in Europe and was founded in 1516, further to laws issued by the Serenissima: The Venetian Jews had to live inside the area bordered by the Ghetto Bridge, and could not leave the area from dusk until dawn. Guards were placed at the Ghetto boundaries to control the Jews’ movements and the Ghetto was closed at night with gates. The hinges of those gates can still be seen today. The word “ghetto” comes from the word “getto”, the noun coming from the Italian verb “gettare”: before the area was made into a residence for Jews, the copper foundries were based here and “gettare” is the dialect word used to explain the work carried out in the foundries.
There are 5 synagogues that look out onto Campo del Ghetto: the Canton Synagogue, the Italian Synagogue, the German Synagogue, the Levantine Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue. The Campo is also surrounded by tall buildings that have up to 8 floors: This is a unique aspect of the buildings compared to all the others in Venice.

Dorsoduro
• Zattere
The Zattere walk is one of the most romantic and prettiest in Venice.
Fondamenta delle Zattere begins at San Basilio and continues alongside the Giudecca Canal, which runs parallel to the Grand Canal, and ends at the Punta della Salute where the old Sea Customs house is located, a truly charming, panoramic place from where you can see the whole of San Marco bay and San Giorgio island as far as the Lido.



San Polo
• The Rialto Market
The famous Rialto Market has two parts to it: Erbaria and Pescaria. Erbaria is the fruit and vegetable market which is right under the Rialto Bridge, on the opposite side to Campo San Bortolo. Pescaria is the fish market and is just a short walk away, under the porticoes of a neo-Gothic building that looks out on the Grand Canal.

Museums

The most interesting museums in Venice, divided into city areas, from the Galleria dell’Accademia to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum...

Santa Croce
• The Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Oriental Art
The Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Oriental Art in Venice are housed in the wonderful seventeenth-century building known as Ca’ Pesaro, a true example of Venetian Baroqe style, designed in 1628 by Baldassare Longhena.
The Modern Art Gallery has an interesting collection of paintings and sculptures by nineteenth and twentieth century artists such as: Kilmt, Chagall, Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse, Moore, Mirò, Morandi, De Chirico, Rodin.
On the second floor there is a large collection of oriental art pieces, divided into two sections: China and Indonesia on one side and Japan on the other.

Dorsoduro
• Peggy Guggenheim Museum
The Peggy Guggenheim Museum is a foundation that is housed inside Palazzo Venier dai Leoni, a typical building with just one floor that looks out onto the Grand Canal. In 1954 Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979), a collector and patron of many modern artists, bought the building to live in, transferring her own collection of sculptures and paintings by artists such as Mirò, Magritte, Boccioni, Picasso, Chagall, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Ernst, Dalì. Today these works of art can be visited at the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation, the best Museum of Modern Art in Venice: 400 works of art, including paintings and sculptures.




• Academy
The Academy of Fine Arts was set up on September 24th 1750, headed first by Piazzetta and then by Tiepolo. In 1807, a true art gallery was set up inside it, that served two purposes: it offered important models for the Academy’s students and also housed the artistic inheritance left by the public buildings that were dismantled after the Venice Marine Republic fell from power. At the end of the Second World War, the architect Carlo Scarpa redesigned the Academy. There is a full range of existing Venetian paintings inside. The original collection has been added to with religious artifacts, private heirlooms, restored paintings and paintings that were bought elsewhere.
When you come out of the main entrance of the Academy you can see the dell’Accademia Bridge, one of the three bridges, together with the Rialto and the degli Scalzi bridges, that cross over the Grand Canal.

Castello
• Arsenale (The Shipyards)
The Venice Arsenale were built around 1104 and was then extended over three centuries, to a point where they took up a large area of the Castello sestiere. The Arsenale are made up of a set of buildings from where the Venetian war and merchant fleets set off.
The entire shipyard area was surrounded by high walls, protected by square towers that had winged lions on the top. The large archway at the entrance was built by A. Gambello when the Doge Pasquale Malipiero (1460) ruled the Republic. Above the main door there is a stone statue of a winged lion with a sword and bible that is open on the words “pax tibi Marce evangelista meus” (may peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist), which is the symbol of Venice.
In 1682 a terrace was built from where it is possible to see the square below and there are eight allegorical stone statues on the rails of gods and goddesses.
When the shipyards were at their busiest, there were 16,000 men working in these yards, who were given the name Arsenalotti. They were divided into teams of joiners, sawyers and stucco decorators who could prepare up to six large trading galleys ships every two years. In the 14th century, many warehouses were built to make and store ropes and rigging: one of these was called “la Tana”. Hemp plants were separated inside “la Tana”, which were then used to make strong ropes by the master rope makers.
Venice was the main naval center on the Adriatic Sea until 1797. The Serenissima came to an end following the Napoleonic wars and the Austrian occupation, and the shipyards were slowly abandoned.
Today it is possible to see models of the Serenissima ships in the Venice Shipyards museum.




San Marco
• Correr Museum
The Correr Museum, which is located in the Napoleonic Wing of Piazza San Marco and in a part of the Procuratie, houses several items and findings that tell the story of Venetian art and history. In the part of the museum that takes up the magnificent Neoclassical rooms of the Napoleonic Wing there is a wonderful collection of sculptures by Canova. The part of the museum that is in the new Procuratie holds an exhibition showing various aspects of the city: it is possible to observe the Serenissima trading and the traditional Venetian festivals.

Buildings and monuments

The historical buildings and most important monuments in Venice, from Palazzo Ducale to the Rialto Bridge...
Santa Croce
• Fondaco dei Turchi
This building was originally built at the beginning of the 13th century by Giacomo Palmieri, the consul of Pesaro on the Atlantic coast, who fled to Venice where he founded one of the greatest noble families in the city: the Pesaro family. In 1621, the Pesaro family rented the palace to Ottoman merchants and from then on the palace was known as the Fondaco dei Turchi (the Turks’ Warehouse). Later, when trade with the East began to decline, the palace was abandoned by the Ottomans and fell into ruin. In 1880, the Venice City Council bought the Fondaco and renovated it , whilst maintaining the characteristics of the original buildings, i.e. its Venetian-Byzantine façade covered in marble. This building has been the home of the Natural History Museum in Venice since 1924.







• Ca’ Mocenigo
The Mocenigo family, from Lombardia, settled in Venice a long time ago and became one of the symbols of the city itself. One of the family branches lived at San Stae, where one of the most striking buildings in Venice was built: Ca’ Mocenigo, built with a main entrance known as a “portego” in the central block. The building now belongs to the City Council and can still be admired in all its glory with the original eighteenth century furnishings and decorations. Palazzo Mocenigo also houses the Vittorio Cini collection of curtains, hangings and religious fabrics.

San Polo
• The Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge was originally the only permanent connection between the two banks of the Grand Canal. It is said that in 1172, a bridge made from barges was designed, which was then replaced with a bridge with wooden columns a few years later. This bridge was destroyed in 1310. In 1444, a new wooden bridge was built that was much bigger than the previous one and which even had shops on it.
The final stone version of the Rialto Bridge, as we know it today, was built in the period 1588-1591 by Antonio da Ponte. Building the bridge was difficult due to the instability of the site and its height (8 meters).
• The House of Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Goldoni, the famous Venetian playwright, was born in 1707 at Palazzo Centani, located alongside Ponte San Tomà. The building has a façade with a pointed arch that faces the canal and can be seen from the bridge. It has a wonderful courtyard and an open air staircase. A committee of citizens bought the house in 1914, following an idea by Aldo Ravà who was a famous fan of Venetian culture. A center for the preservation of the artists papers was then created there. The buildings has been the home of the Institute of Theatrical Studies (Istituto degli Studi Teatrali) since 1952. The theater section of the Correr Museum Library is also housed there.
Carlo Goldoni’s most famous plays, written and acted in dialect, are: I Rusteghi (1760), The Villeggiatura trilogy (1761) and Le Baruffe Chiozzotte (1762).
• Scuola Grande di San Rocco
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a majestic building made from white marble, designed by the architects Bon and Scarpagnino around 1400. It was declared a School in 1489 by the Concilio dei Dieci. The carvings on the façade are very intricate and recall the typical style of the Venetian sculptors from the mid-15th century. The school played a role of helping the poor and protecting the city’s artistic assets. When the Marine Republic fell from power, the School was left to rack and ruin and most of the holy decorations were stolen. The School was reopened for religious services in 1806, thanks to some donations from rich citizens. It once again took on its role to



help the poor, in spite of the fact that it did not have many financial resources. Works by Tintoretto, Tiziano, Tiepolo and Giorgione, all illustrating the bible, can still be seen inside the school.

San Marco
• Palazzo Ducale
This exceptional building was the center of Venice’s political, social and economic life right from the beginning. Palazzo Ducale was the private residence of the Doge, but it was also the home of the Government’s and the Courts’ main offices . There is some proof that the original building dates back to the first half of the 9th century, a building that was then changed through several renovations that were carried out over the centuries. Substantial changes were made in 1173, during the rule of the Doge Sebastiano Ziani, and the palace was expanded. However, in 1340, the building took on a truly grandiose size when the Gothic style wing was built that faces the San Marco bay, where the Greater Council meeting were held. The portico supported by the large columns and the upper open gallery that face the bay are wonderful. The Gothic-style Porta della Carta, the entrance of honor to the palace, dates back to the 15th century. It was given this name as the proclamations issued by the Republic were attached to this door.
The rooms inside the palace are full of frescoes depicting the history of the Republic by Masters such as Tiepolo, Tiziano, Veronese, Bassano and Palma il Giovane, all kept in valuable golden wooden frames.
• The “Procuratie” and the Napoleonic wing
Piazza San Marco is bordered on the right and on the left sides by the Procuratie, which are connected by the Napoleonic Wing. There are now several shops under the porticoes, the famous Café Florian and Café Quadri and there are also some luxurious Venetian jewelers such as Nardi and Missaglia. Both the Procuratie, the Old and the New one have galleries over the 50 arches of the ground floor portico. The third side of the square, the one that face the Basilica, is taken up by the Napoleonic Wing. This is a building in Neo-classical style, built on the wishes of Napoleon in 1807. In order to build a ballroom, Napoleon ordered for the ancient Church of San Geminiano to be knocked down. The Napoleonic Wing now houses
the Correr Museum collection.
The Torre dell’Orologio (the Clock Tower) is also located on the side of the old Procuratie. There is also the archway that takes you to the Mercerie. The tower is topped by a terrace where there is a large bell and two bronze statues known as the “Mori”. The clock is underneath the statues. The clock face is gold and blue enamel and shows the time, the lunar phases and the zodiac signs.





• Scala Contarini known as “del Bovolo”
Near Campo San Bortolo, hidden among a labyrinth of alleyways, there is one of Benice’s most unusual sites: Scala Contarini, known as “del Bovolo”, which was built around the 17th century. This strange name was given to it due to its strange spiral shape that reminds one of a snail, which in Venetian dialect is Bovolo. The staircase winds up Palazzo Contarini façade and is seen as a high cylindrical tower from where you get a charming view of Venice’ rooftops.

Cannaregio
• Ca’ d’Oro
Palazzo Ca’ d’Oro, now home of the Franchetti Gallery, is one of the main attractions of Venetian Gothic architecture, built at the beginning of the 15th century on the wishes of Marini Contarini. The name of Ca’ d’Oro (The Golden home) comes from the wealth of gold leafing that once decorated its façade. The original project was probably by the architect Marci D’Amadio, but the work was carried out by Lombard craftsmen and then later by Venetian ones. Ca’ d’Oro changed owner several times and was finally bought and renovated by the Baron Giorgio Franchetti in the 19th century. He then donated his own collection of paintings and this building to the State in 1916. In 1927, the palace was turned into a museum that now houses several works of art by Tiziano and Tintoretto and some Gothic and Renaissance furniture.

Dorsoduro
• Ca’ Rezzonico
Ca’ Rezzonico is a large building that looks down onto the Grand Canal and which is now home to the Eighteenth Century Museum in Venice. The original design of the building was commissioned by the Priuli-Bon family and was carried out by Baldassare Longhena during the first half of the 17th century. Around 1745, another floor was added to the building, just as the Rezzonico family, the new owners of the building, wished. Some classical elements have been used on the façade, as they were much in fashion at the time. They match the rooms and the interior decorating. The large staircase can be reached from the entrance hall on the ground floor: this is one of the most magnificent entrances in the entire city. Ca’ Rezzonico was bought by the English poet Robert Browning and then by the Baron Hirschel de Minerby, the last private owner. The building was then acquired by the City Council (1925) and was turned into a museum.






Churches
All the best churches in Venice, divided into city areas. Including the Basilica of San Marco and the Church della Salute….

Santa Croce
• Church of San Simeon Piccolo
This imposing church is located opposite the Santa Lucia train station. The Church of San Simeon Piccolo was built at the beginning of the 18th century and was intended to be a copy of the Pantheon in Rome; this is why it has a large green dome, with the statue of San Salvatore on the top. This building has been used as an auditorium for concerts for some time now.
• Church of Santo Stae
The Church of San Stae was built on the wishes of the Doge Alvise Mocenigo around 1709. Its façade is full of marble decorations and inside there are several paintings. The sculptors involved in producing these decorations were Tarsia, Torretto, Baratta and Groppelli. The designer and the builder of the church interior was the architect Giovanni Grassi. The church has a central aisle, a vaulted ceiling and three chapels on each side.

San Polo
• Church of San Giacometto
Popular tradition considers the church of San Giacometto to be the oldest church in Venice. It was built thanks to the belief and talent of a carpenter from Crete around the 5th century, just when the first people settled on this group of islands. The church is very small but very pretty and charming. There is a large clock on the façade, built in 1410.
• Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
This large Gothic church, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is one of the most imposing religious buildings in Venice. It was built by the minor monks of the Franciscan order, known as Frari, thanks to a donation from the Doge Jacopo Tiepolo. The first version of the church was completed in 1338, and was much smaller than the current one. Other donations from important Venetian families provided for the church to be expanded and decorated. However, this church was demolished at the beginning of the 15th century to build a new one, using a enormous amount of bricks dotted with white marble decorations. The severe, imposing façade is built in a late Gothic style and is divided into three parts with Venetian-Byzantine capital-topped pillars. The interior is


• just as magnificent: the church is built on a Latin cross pattern, with a central aisle and side aisles, divided by twelve massive pillars. There are many works of art by important painters such as Tiziano, Palma il Giovane and Piazzetta in the church. The ancient convent and oratory house the city’s archives: there are 15 million volumes that contain the Serenissima’s entire history.

Dorsoduro
• Basilica della Salute
On October 22nd 1630, during the terrible plague that struck Venice, the Doge Nicolò Contarini publicly declared that a church would be built in the name of Health (salute) as a vow to end the scourge. A year later, in 1631, the plague was wiped out and the Basilica della Salute was opened in 1687.
Eleven plans for the church were presented and the one designed by Baldassare Longhena was chosen. The design included a huge façade that reminds one of the Palladium, with a wonderful huge door in the center. The façade was lifted with a number of steps to give the church an even greater sense of grandeur. The interior is incredibly charming due to the severe majesty of its size. It has the central area on an octagonal plan. On the sides, there are a corresponding number of arches divided up by columns. There are a number of works of art inside the church too: Pentecost, San Rocco and San Sebastiano, David and Goliath and Cain and Abel by Tiziano; The Marriage of Canaan by Tintoretto and Jonah and Samson by Palma il Giovane.

Castello
• Church of Santa Maria Formosa
The Church of Santa Maria Formosa is one of the eight churches built in the 7th century by San Magno, the Bishop of Oderzo. Legend goes that the Virgin Mary appeared to him in the form of a shapely, matron. The church was built several times over the centuries: in 1668 the church was rebuilt after it was damaged during an earthquake and after several renovations, the last reconstruction of the entire building was carried out in the period 1916 to 1921, using funds provided by the government and by Count Venier. The Baroque church tower was built in 1668 and was designed by Francesco Zucconi. The façade of the church that faces the canal was built using money donated by the Cappello family, in honor of Captain Vincenzo Cappello, who defeated the Turks. The church’s interior was decorated by Mauro Coducci and is built according to the Latin cross pattern over the previous Greek cross foundations. It has a central aisle and side aisles, a choir, transepts with cross vaults and a hemispherical dome. The church is also home to some wonderful paintings by Bartolomeo Vivarini, Palma il Giovane and Palma il Vecchio.


• Church of the Santissimi Giovanni and Paolo
The Church of the Santissimi Giovanni and Paolo is dedicated to the two Roman brothers who became martyrs in Rome in the 2nd century. In 1234, the order of Dominican monks began to build this church which was then finished almost two centuries later. This large church is built in religious Gothic style. Its façade is built in three parts, with a central rose and two round side openings. The lower part of the façade is decorated with a series of Gothic arches and two sarcophaguses of Marco Michiel and Daniele Marco Bon, on the right and of the Doge Jacopo Tiepolo and his son Lorenzo on the left. The church interior is built on a Latin cross pattern. It is full of Doges’ and other important figures’ funeral monuments and also contains works of art by Lombardo, Piazzetta and other artists from the Bellini school.
• Church of San Francesco della Vigna
Tradition says that the name of this pretty church comes from the vineyards that were given to the Minor Monks by Marco Ziani, the son of the Doge Pietro, in 1253. This was the land that a monastery was built on. In 1534 the church was built in place of the monastery. It was designed by Sansovino who supervised the building work himself. The façade was built at a later date (1568-1577) following a design by Andrea Palladio. Two bronze statues by Tiziano Aspetti are in the niches in the façade: on the left there is a statue of Moses and on the right there is a statue of San Paolo. The Interior of San Francesco della Vigna is built on a Latin cross pattern, with a central aisle, side chapels, a higher altar and a deep choir. The church contains works by Palma il Giovane, including the “Vergine e il Bambino” and the “Adorazione della Vergine in Gloria”.
• Church of San Giorgio Dei Greci
The Church of San Giorgio dei Greci was built starting from 1539, as soon as the Greeks obtained permission to build a church and a school from the Republic. The Church of San Giorgio dei Greci was completed by Chianantonio and was consecrated in 1561. The church’s interior is truly magnificent: the hemispherical dome is worthy of note, with its center covered in frescoes by G. di Cipro.
• Church of the Pietà
The church was built in the 15th century according to a design by Giorgio Massari and was consecrated in 1760. The building is one of the elegant and striking from the 7th century. There is a wonderful fresco by Tiepolo on the ceiling of the main entrance: Fortitudine e Pace, one of this greatest masterpieces. The frescoes that adorn the choir ceiling, which make up the Trionfo della Fede, are also worthy of note. Here Tiepolo has excelled himself, painting the Glory of Paradiso.

San Marco
• Basilica of San Marco
This wonderful church was built in 829 to contain the remains of Saint Mark, the city’s patron saint and was consecrated in 1024. It has been renovated and decorated several time over the centuries and the Basilica is most certainly the most spectacular church in the city. Its main façade is unique. It has five arched doorways, a long


terrace that are home to four bronze horses that came from the booty from the 4th crusade of the infidels. Its bas-relief work is in Byzantine style. The interior is just as sumptuous as the outside. The marble floor has a striking geometric pattern and there are splendid mosaics on the walls that tell stories from the New Testament.
• San Marco Bell Tower
The San Marco Bell Tower was built in the 9th century. It was originally used as a lookout tower and as a lighthouse. It was rebuilt in 1100 and it was then completed in the 16th century under the guidance of the architect Bon. It was rebuilt in a Renaissance style while maintaining the original structure. In 1902, the bell tower fell down but fortunately there were no tragic consequences. Venice decided to rebuild it “as it was and where it was” and 10 years later the new bell tower, an exact copy of the original, was ready: the tower is square, built in brick. It is 12 meters wide and 98.6 meters high and is closed on top with a pyramid-shaped point. On the top there is a golden angel about 2 meters high. The bell tower has played an essential role in the political and social life of the city for centuries. The bells were rung to inform the city’s inhabitants of all the main events organized in Venice. At the foot of the bell tower there were popular wine sellers who moved around to stay under the bell tower’s shade depending on the time of day. This ancient custom is where the term that the Venetians use for a glass of wine comes from: ombra (shade in Italian).

Cannaregio
• Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli
The Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is almost hidden in between two ancient palaces. It was built between 1481 and 1489 by Lombardo to protect the sacred image of the “Vergine tra due Santi”, that was first kept in Angelo Amadi’s tabernacle who lived in a courtyard nearby and which is now subject to pilgrimages and donations.
The church’s façade is completely covered in marble that, so tradition says, comes from the remains of the work on the Basilica of San Marco. The church’s interior is decorated in hues of pale pink, silver, grey and white and there is still the original bas-relief work with mermaids, the God Triton, animals, flowers and other pictures. The "Vergine tra due Santi" stands above the church’s altar.
• Church of the Santissimi Apostoli
The ancient Church of the Santissimi Apostoli stands in Campo dei Santi Apostoli, where it was built in the 9th century. The current building is the result of lots of renovation work carried out during the 18th century. Legend has it that the spot on which the Church stands was one of the first places in Venice where refugees from the mainland came to live. There are several wonderful frescoes inside the church: The “Comunione di Santa Lucia” by Tiepolo and the large panel painted by Francesco Canal that is on the ceiling, showing the Communion of the Apostles, the Celebration of the Eucharist and four ovals to the side showing the Evangelists.



• The Jesuits’ Church
The church’s façade is a perfect example of Baroque style from the beginning of the 18th century. The church is built to a Latin cross and the columns inside are topped by statues of the twelve Apostles created by various sculptors during the 17th and 18th centuries. The church also contains frescoes by Palma il Giovane, Tiziano and Sansovino. After the Jesuit Order was suppressed in 1773, the convent was used as a public school and then as army barracks in 1807. The Church was handed back to the Jesuits when the Order was reinstated by Pius VII in 1814.
• Church of the Madonna dell’Orto
The Church of the Madonna dell’Orto was built around the middle of the 15th century by Fra’ Tiberio da Parma and took the name of Madonna dell’Orto due to the ancient picture of the Virgin that was found in a garden nearby and which was then taken to the church. Building on the church lasted for about one century and the result was extremely worthy of note: the façade is still the best example today of Venetian Gothic architecture from the 15th century. The row of niches that were originally galleries that ran down the wings of the building, now hold the statues of the twelve Apostles. Inside there is a nave with no transept and side aisles with chapels that are separated by two rows of Greek marble columns. The picture of the “Vergine con Bambino” that gives the church its name hangs alongside the Chapel of San Mauro and is a fine example of art work from the 14th century made from soft stone. Inside there are frescoes by Palma il Giovane, Ponzone and Tintoretto.