Venice is a city that not only delights the eye and mind, but is a place that one cannot help but fall in love with, like an old lover, faded perhaps by the years, but still green in the memory. In historic times, it was the capital of the Serene Republic. It to this day Venice remains La Serenissima, the Serene City.
Venice was first founded by refugees from the barbarian invasions of Italy on an archipelago to the east of the Italian mainland. By the fourteenth century, Venice had established a major trading empire whose influence reached across the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. It is today an enchanting city of canals, bridges, squares, and classical buildings. It enraptures everyone who visits.
Piazza San Marco
Napoleon, when he conquered Venice, called the Piazza San Marco the, “Finest drawing room in Europe.” Of course this outdoor drawing room has pigeons in flocks, expensive cafes where fine coffee and latte are served, and some of the most sublime buildings ever to be seen. The two pillars topped by the lions of Saint Mark guard the entrance to the square. It is the center of Venice’s water transportation system and the tiny, winding streets radiate outward across the city from it.
Basilica di San Marco
This Byzantine style church, facing the Piazza San Marco, was begun in the ninth century to house the bones of Saint Mark, purloined from the city of Alexandria. It was burned a hundred years later during a revolt and then rebuilt. The church is filled with Byzantine style mosaics, worked in gold, and with statues carved from a variety of marble. Particularly recommended are a relief called Labors of the Month and a 14th Century painting called A Scene from the Life of Saint Mark.
Palazzo Ducale
The Palazzo Ducale was the official residence of the ruling Doges of Venice and was the center of Venetian political, economic, and political life for centuries until the fall of the Republic in 1797. It stands beside the Basilica di San Marco facing the Piazza San Marco. It was here that Venices governing councils and law courts met. It is connected to a prison by the famous Bridge of Sighs. The Ducal apartments and meeting rooms are filled with fine works of art by such masters as Sansovino, Tintoretto and Veronese. From the courtyard, the visitor can admire the magnificent marble Giants’ Staircase, topped by statues of Mars and Neptune by Sansovino.