Overview
With so much shoring up work and construction, even the waterfront
by St Mark’s Square is currently blighted
by hulks of metal and workers, getting around Venice and appreciating
its attractions is currently slightly more problematic than it is
usually. The best plan for sightseeing in Venice is to have no plan
at all. Those who choose to follow a map soon end up on a one-way
street with a watery end, or cut off by construction.
For initial sightseeing, it is advisable for tourists to get on
one of the main well signposted tourist thoroughfares from the train
station to St Mark’s Square, either via the
Rialto or Galleria dell’ Accademia.
As water is so integral to the city, another excellent way for tourists
to get a good feel for Venice and its layout is to take a vaporetto
ride from Piazzale Roma, situated in the far east
of the city, right along the wide artery of the nearby Grand Canal
to St Mark’s Square in the centre. The Grand Canal
provides an insight into the very essence of Venice,
with all sorts of waterborne craft, from vaporetti and speeding
water taxis, right through to the more leisurely traghetti and,
of course, the ubiquitous gondola.
Along the length of the Grand Canal are some of
the most renowned sights in Venice, from the charming arch of the
Rialto Bridge and the artistic treasure trove of
the Galleria dell ‘Accademia to the more
modern charms of the canal-side restaurants and the avant-garde
art Mecca of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Travelling
away from the water, there are the attractions of St Mark’s
Basilica, the Doges’ Palace, Basilica
dei Frari and Scuola di San Rocco.
Elsewhere around the Venetian Lagoon are the enticing islands, such
as Murano, known for its glass, Burano,
famous for its lace, and Torcello, famous for looking
much like Venice would have before the builders moved in. On a clear
day, taking a vaporetto over the lagoon to the Lido is also recommended
to see the city shimmering across the water with a hulk of snow-capped
mountains as a dramatic backdrop.
Tourist
Information
Azienda
di Promozione Turistica (APT) Giardini Ex Reali, San Marco (Venice
Pavilion)
Telephone number: (041) 522 5150 or 529 8711. Fax number: (041)
523 0399.
E-mail: info@govenice.org
Website: www.turismovenezia.it
Opening hours: Daily 0900 hrs-1730 hrs.
Other tourist offices are located on St Mark’s Square, the
train station and on the Lido, at Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta.
Hello Venezia (telephone number: (041)
2424; fax number: (041) 271 4730) can also provide information on
transport, cultural events etc. in Venice. They also have English
speaking operators.
Passes
The complicated VeniceCard (telephone number: (041)
2424) is split between ‘blue’ and ‘orange’
variations, with the former including public transport and toilets,
and the latter providing access to some of the city’s museums.
Then there are variations between senior and junior cards, with
the junior card available to those under 29 years old, the disabled
and guides.
The One-day blue cards cost €14 for seniors and €9 for
juniors, with orange cards priced at €28 for seniors and €18
for juniors.
Three day and seven day passes are also available. Three and seven
day blue cards cost €29 and €51 for seniors, €22
and €49 for juniors respectively. The three and seven-day orange
cards cost €47 and €68 for seniors, €35 and €61
for juniors. Transport to/from Marco Polo airport can be included
for an extra €20. The Venice Card is available from railway
stations, tourist information offices and online.
The
Chorus Pass (telephone number: (041) 275 0462; fax number: (041)
275 0494; e-mail: info@chorus-ve.org)
includes entry to 15 of Venice’s churches, including the spectacular
Frari church and Palladio’s Santa
Sede Redentore. The pass lasts for one year and costs €8,
with proceeds going towards the upkeep of some of Venice’s
most historic parish churches. This pass is available for purchase
at the tourist office, which will also provide a full list of the
participating churches and their locations. Passes can also be purchased
from the churches themselves.
The excellent value Rolling Venice Card (telephone
number: (041) 274 7645), available to those aged 29 or under and
valid for one year, costs just €5 and gives a range of discounts
at many of Venice’s attractions. The Rolling Venice
Card is available for purchase from the railway station
and tourist information offices.
Key
Attractions
Basilica
di San Marco (St Mark’s Basilica)
St Mark’s Square was memorably described by Napoleon as the
‘drawing room of Europe’. Visitors can sit at one of
the elegant 18th-century coffee houses, Florian and Caffe Quadri,
with the tables spilling out into the sunlight from the shadows
of the Renaissance colonnades, and peer at one of Europe’s
most unusual churches, the golden Byzantine Basilica di San Marco.
The basilica was founded in the ninth century, as a shrine for the
relics of St Mark and whose body was smuggled from Alexandria in
a barrel of salted pork. Formerly a private chapel of the Doges,
the church was completely rebuilt in the 11th century, following
a fire. Built on a plan of a Greek Cross, its Eastern appearance
is enhanced by golden mosaics both inside and out, originally created
by craftsmen from the Byzantine court at Ravenna. To see how the
church appeared in 1260, visitors should take a look at the mosaic
over the left portal which is one of the oldest surviving mosaics
on the façade. Also on the façade are copies of four
bronze horses seized from Constantine’s Hippodrome at the
sacking of Constantinople in 1204, which became one of the symbols
of the city. The originals are now being displayed in the Museo
Marciano, inside the church.
The inside is lit by the expanse of golden mosaics, houses many
of Venice’s greatest treasures. In the chapel north of the
main altar is the venerated icon of the Madonna Nicopeia.
Once worshipped by the Roman Emperors in Constantinople, she came
to Venice in 1204, as their Madonna of Victory,
whose blessing was vital for Venetian military campaigns. The golden
screen behind the high altar, the crypt in which St Mark is supposed
to be buried, is the Pala d’Oro. Decked with
sapphires, emeralds and rubies and inset with enamels from Constantinople,
it was ordered by Pietro Orseolo, the Doge who
was responsible for the rebuilding of the Basilica. Before leaving
St Mark’s, visitors should pause to admire the 12th-century
pavement, a resplendent mosaic of glass and marble. Now it is filled
with uneven dips, and is a fitting witness to Venice’s unique
situation, as the weight of its history threatens to submerge it
below the waves.
The waterfront near Piazza San Marco is currently blighted by the
much-needed attempts to shore it up, and looks destined to ruin
many a tourist photo for some time to come.
Piazza San Marco
Telephone number: (041) 522 5205. Fax number: (041) 520 8289.
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 to San Zaccaria.
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 1000 hrs-1700 hrs and Sunday 1400
hrs-1700 hrs.
Admission: Free (Church); €2 (Pala D’Oro); €2.50
(Treasury).
Palazzo Ducale (Doges’
Palace)
The Doges’ Palace was once home to the elected leader of Venice,
the Doge, as well as the city’s political nerve centre, is
a must for anyone interested in the history of Venice and its former
empire. The building seemingly too graceful for the dirty work of
government, its pearly façade is best appreciated from the
lagoon, in whose milky light her rosy complexion blushes beguilingly.
A merging of Islamic and Gothic styles, the façade dates
from 1365. In contrast to the stern fortifications of the castle
that was formerly on this site, the undefended colonnade and arcaded
balcony are a testament to Venice’s confidence and democratic
outlook during the Middle Ages.
The interior is more Renaissance in style, dating mainly from the
16th century, when Antonio da Ponte was employed to refurbish the
palace after the fire during 1577. The first floor is predominantly
made up of the Ducal apartments, all but empty except for some exemplary
paintings by Titian and Bellini. It is on the upper floors that
the business of government took place and it is here that Tintoretto
and Veronese were commissioned to create new paintings to highlight
the power and wealth of the republic. The Anticollegio (or waiting
room) holds some of the palace’s best works, Tintoretto’s
Bacchus and Ariadne vies for attention with Veronese’s Rape
of Europa.
The Sala del Collegio is dominated by Veronese’s
ceiling painting of Venice Triumphant above the throne. But it is
the Chamber of the Great Council (Sala del Maggior
Consiglio), the huge hall on the 3rd floor, spanning the length
of the façade overlooking the lagoon, which holds the palace’s
most dramatic work. Tintoretto’s Vision of Paradise, painted
with the help of his son, Domenico and is the largest oil painting
in the world, with a cast of 500 figures. Tintoretto junior is also
responsible for the frieze of portraits of the first 76 Doges, made
memorable by the blacked-out image of Marin Falier, the only Doge
ever to attempt to overthrow the council and install himself as
absolute ruler. Falier was beheaded for his pains but his reputation
lives on in this silhouetted image.
The Doges’ Palace is currently in the process of a five-stage
restoration project, with the final completion date is constantly
changing. Nevertheless, concerted attempts are being made to keep
as many of the museum areas as possible open throughout the running
repairs, though scaffolding currently mars the exterior.
iva degli Schiavoni, San Marco
Telephone number: (041) 271 5911.
Transport: Vaporetto 1, 6, 14, 41, 42, 51, 52 or 82.
Opening hours: Daily 0900 hrs -1900 hrs.
Admission: €9.50.
Rialto
Bridge
Venice is historically centred on Rialto Island,
the name is derived from the Latin rivus altus, meaning high bank.
In the 10th century, a provisions market developed spontaneously
on the adjacent island and so, in 1264, the first wooden bridge
linking the two landmasses was built. This wooden bridge collapsed
in 1444, from the weight of crowds watching a wedding procession.
The bridge was replaced in 1588, by Antonio da Ponte’s design
for the single stone arched bridge, which beat off proposals by
Palladio and Michelangelo. Da Ponte’s bridge retained the
covered shops of the original and today the haunt of tacky tourist
traps and hawk-eyed goldsmiths but once home to Shakespeare’s
Merchant of Venice. Visitors may note how the bridge crosses the
Grand Canal at an angle, in order to align with the axis of the
Ruga degli Orefici (Goldsmiths’ Road). Until 1854, this was
the only point at which the Grand Canal could be crossed on foot.
If visiting during the day, make sure to return when it is dark,
or even better misty as well, when the bridge really takes on an
otherworldly atmosphere.
Ponte di Rialto, near Piazzale Roma
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Galleria dell’Accademia
In Venice many of the greatest paintings remain in the buildings
for which they were created, but the most important art gallery,
the Accademia, is still worth a visit. Housed in
the former church of Santa Maria della Carita and
the adjoining Scuola, the collection first opened
in 1750.
Oils were the favourite medium of the Venetian masters. Frescoes,
popular on the mainland, were unsuited to the damp, salty climate
of the lagoon and soon perished. Instead, oils painted on wood or
canvas (long used in Northern Europe) were exploited, with the artists
demonstrating an unusual sensitivity to colour and light, no doubt
partly influenced by the play of light on the lagoon. The small
paintings in rooms four and five are some of the finest in the collection.
Giorgione’s Tempesta, depicting a naked mother
and child sheltering under a stormy sky against the ruins of an
ancient city, is full of mystery. Little is known about the artist
and the subject of the scene is unclear, but the interplay of dark
and light conveys a deep sense of drama. The larger canvases by
Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese
in room ten should not be missed either. Titian painted the Pieta
for his own tomb, demonstrating his extraordinary ability to create
light with his palette. Veronese’s bawdy picture, entitled
Feast in the House of Levi, was originally painted as The
Last Supper but the artist was forced to amend the subject
after charges of indecorum. Visitors should allow time for room
21, to admire the drama and colour of the nine broad canvases in
which Carpaccio has dramatically staged the Life
of St Ursula.
Dorsoduro 1055
Telephone number: (041) 522 2247. Fax number: (041) 521 2709.
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1915 hrs, Monday0815 hrs-1400
hrs.
Admission: €6.50.
Basilica
dei Frari (Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari)
The glorious Gothic Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, built
around 1330 and is primarily associated with the name of Titian,
Venice’s painter son who is buried here, alongside the city’s
celebrated sculptor, Antonio Canova. Titian made his reputation
and crowned his early years by painting the large altar piece, The
Assumption of the Virgin, for the Franciscan brothers of
the Frari in 1518. The view through the choir screen and wooden
choir to the high altar influenced Titian’s choice of frame
and composition. The best way to admire it is to walk slowly up
the centre of the nave towards the altar. Titian also executed the
painting over the Pesaro family altar in the north aisle. The inclusion
of the flag and Turk in the painting alludes to Bishop Pesaro’s
victory over the Turks at Santa Maura. Titian’s tomb, located
in the south aisle, faces the large marble pyramid created for Canova,
depicting St Mark’s lion paying homage to the dead sculptor.
Ironically, the design, executed by Canova’s pupils, was based
on Canova’s own plans for a new monument to Titian.
San Polo 3072
Telephone number: (041) 272 8611.
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 to San Tomà.
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 0900 hrs-1700 hrs and Sunday 1300
hrs-1700 hrs
Admission: €2.
Scuola Grande
di San Rocco (School of St Roch)
The School of St Roch, one of the many lay fraternities established
in Venice for charitable works, is the series of masterful canvases
by Jacopo Tintoretto that decorate its interior.
Founded in 1478, the school was dedicated to St Roch, following
a particularly vicious outbreak of plague. Tintoretto won the commission
to decorate the entire Scuola in 1564 and spent the next 23 years
doing so, becoming a brother of the school.
The ground floor holds a series of large canvasses depicting scenes
from the Life of the Virgin (1582-1587). In the
upper hall, connected by Scarpagnino’s staircase, are representations
from the Old Testament on the ceiling and New
Testament on the walls (1570-1581). The art critic and
famous Victorian thinker, John Ruskin, reserved his greatest praise
for the Sala dell’Albergo (1564-1567), where
the chapter met. On entering the room, the visitor is confronted
with the stunning expanse of Tintoretto’s Crucifixion
along the breadth of the opposite wall, one of the world’s
great works of art. Tintoretto manages to capture the painterly
equivalent of tempo, rendering the darkened landscape busy with
vignettes of activity while the divine halo around Christ’s
head, his face partly hidden as his head bows in death, dimly illuminates
the scene. Tourists attending one of the cultural events in the
building can nip through during the interval for a free peek at
the master’s work.
Campo San Rocco, San Polo 3054
Telephone number: (041) 523 4864. Fax number(041) 524 2820.
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 to San Tomà.
Opening hours: Daily 1000 hrs-1600 hrs.
Admission: €5.
Scuola Dalmata
di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni (Dalmation School of St George the
Slav)
In the Middle Ages, the large Dalmatian (Schiavoni means ‘Slav’)
population in Venice provided labourers for building ships in the
arsenal and sailors for the Venetian fleets. Forming a charitable
guild in 1451, they moved their seat to the School of St George
in 1480, under the patronage of the Knights of Malta. Vittore Carpaccio,
himself of Istrian origin, painted a series of celebrated and brilliantly
imaginative canvases, between 1502 and 1508. Located in a dark hall
on the ground floor since 1551, the canvases depict scenes from
the lives of the guild’s patron saints – St George,
St Tryphone and St Jerome. Based on tales from The Golden Legend,
the images depict St George killing the dragon, St Jerome welcoming
the lion into the monastery, the funeral of St Jerome and the revelation
of the death of St Jerome to St Augustine. Carpaccio’s canvases
demand attention through a combination of drama and extraordinary
detail. The canal-side wall, complete with its relief of George
slaying the dragon, is in a dire state, but finally work is underway
to shore it up, as well as to stabilise the rest of the exterior.
Calle dei Furlani 3259/a, Castello
Telephone number: (041) 522 8828. Fax number: (041) 520 8446.
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 52 to San Zaccaria.
Opening: Tuesday-Saturday 0930 hrs-1230 hrs and 1530 hrs-1830 hrs,
Sunday 0930 hrs-1230 hrs (April-October); Tuesday-Saturday 1000
hrs-1230 hrs and 1500 hrs -1800 hrs, Sunday 1000 hrs-1230 hrs (November-March).
Admission: €2.50.
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Peggy Guggenheim’s collection of modern art is probably the
most distinguished in Italy. The wealthy American heiress and generous
benefactor who helped promote Jackson Pollock, built up her collection
between 1938 and 1947. Following the exhibition of the collection
at the 1948 Venice Biennale, she bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni,
where she lived until she died in 1979, leaving her estate to the
Solomon Guggenheim Foundation. The collection spans Cubism, European
Abstraction, Surrealism and early American Abstract Expressionism,
with works by a wide variety of artists, including Pollock,
Picasso, Kandinsky and Dalí. The
sculpture garden is particularly fine and enjoys lovely views over
the Grand Canal.
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Dorsoduro
Telephone number: (041) 240 5418. Fax number: (041) 520 6885.
E-mail: info@guggenheim-venice.it
Website: www.guggenheim-venice.it
Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 from Piazza San Marco.
Opening hours: Monday and Wednesday-Friday 1000 hrs-1800 hrs; Saturday
1000 hrs-2200 hrs
Admission: €8.
Further
Distractions
Torcello
Torcello appears almost deserted and it is difficult to believe
that, between the seventh and 13th centuries, it was a thriving
community of 30,000 who prospered from the wool and salt trade.
The town’s decline began in the 14th century, when silt from
the rivers turned the waterways around the island into swampland
and brought malaria to the community. A visit to this ghost town
provides a fascinating glimpse into the very early beginnings and
architecture of the Venetian lagoons.
The main square can be reached by crossing the Devil’s
Bridge, the only medieval bridge remaining in Venice, allegedly
built by the devil in a single night. The austere façade
of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, linked
by a portico to the Church of Santa Fosca and the Baptistery, conceals
lavish mosaic wall coverings. Founded in the seventh century and
rebuilt in the ninth and 11th, the complex pre-dates St Mark’s
Basilica by two centuries. In the central apse, there is a beautiful
representation of the Virgin and the Mystic Lamb, inspired by works
in Ravenna. The most magnificent mosaic is on the wall over the
main door and is an enormous composition depicting Christ and the
final judgement. Torcello also has its own provincial museum, Museo
Provinciale Di Torcello, dedicated to the island’s history
and evolution with exhibits from different eras including Roman
and early-Veneto times.
Torcello Island
Transport: Vaporetto 41 and 42 or ACTV 12 or 14 from Fondamente
Nuove and Punta Sabbioni.
Museo Provinciale Di Torcello
Piazza Torcello, 30012 Torcello
Telephone number: (041) 730 761. Fax number: (041) 730 875.
E-mail: beni.cultuarli@
provincia.venezia.it
Website: www.provincia.venezia.it
Transport: Vaporetto 41 and 42 or ACTV 12 or 14 from Fondamente
Nuove and Punta Sabbioni.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 1030 hrs-1730 hrs (March-November)
and 1000 hrs-1700 hrs (November-February)
Admission: €2.
Burano
Burano sees its fair share of visitors during the summer months
and many Venetians descend on this lagoon island at weekends. But
on a quiet, sunny weekday, the island is idyllic. Many of its narrow
canals are lined with brightly painted houses, which are said to
have been painted originally by local fishermen, so that they could
find their way home through the murky lagoon mists. The main industry
today is tourism, which is fuelled by the production of traditional
lace, on sale from many outlets around the island. Once visitors
have purchased the obligatory lace souvenir, the only other pursuits
are idling around the charming canals and lazing away the day in
the waterfront cafés and restaurants. A meal at Il
Gatto Nero (telephone number: (041) 730 120), a popular
trattoria serving food every bit as good as Burano’s more
expensive and tourist-orientated restaurants, is an experience to
remember, although booking is essential to secure an outside table
overlooking the canal.
Burano Island
Transport: Vaporetto 12. |
