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.

Campanelli di San Marco

The Campanelli di San Marco is the bell tower of the Basilica di San Marco and stands separate from the main church at the Piazza San Marco. It is a rebuilt tower that replaced the one that tumbled down in 1902. A visitor can take an elevator or the stairs to the top to see a spectacular view of Venice and the surrounding lagoon.

Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs connects the Palazzo Ducale to the Old Prisons. It was named for the expressions that many prisoners made as they were being conducted to either incarceration or death. The most famous of those prisoners was Casanova, who also managed to escape from the prison.

Santa Maria della Salute Church

After a plague in 1630 killed a third of the population of Venice, the Venetian Senate passed a resolution vowing to raise a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary should it please God to stop the plague. God came through, perhaps by allowing cool weather to kill off the plague bearing fleas. Construction of the church, on the opposite side of the from the Piazza San Marco, took over fifty years, started under the design of the architect Baldassare Longhena. The result is a magnificent oblong edifice which combined the Byzantine style of Venetian architecture with a giant dome inspired by the one that surmounts St. Peters Basilica in Rome. The church is embellished by 125 statues set in recessed areas about the walls. The church is best seen from the water, coming up to the landing at the foot of some marble stairs that lead up to the front entrance.

The Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge was built between 1588 and 1591 as a replacement for a wooden bridge. Until the middle of the 19th Century, when the Accademia Bridge was built, it was the only way to cross the Grand Canal. Located at the northern part of the canal, the Rialto is a 24 foot arch designed to allow for the passage of galleys underneath. It has three walkways, two along the outer balustrades, and one wider, central walkway under cover and lined with tiny shops selling linens, jewelry, and glass. The bridge consists of steps, so it is difficult to navigate with strollers or wheel chairs. The Rialto Bridge is as much a universally recognized symbol of Venice as is the Piazza San Marco.

Madonna dell'Orto

Madonna dell’Orto church is in the northern part of Venice and is built in the gothic style.The church is best known as the parish church of the famous Venetian painter Tintoretto. It contains many of his paintings and the artist is buried there in a fine tomb in the chapel to the right of the high alter. On either side of the high altar there are vast Tintoretto paintings of The Worship of the Golden Calf and The Last Judgment, each about fifty feet high. Also of note is a statue of a "Madonna of the Garden" (Madonno dell'Orto) in the chapel of San Mauro, which was discovered in a neighboring garden in the late 1300s and was said to possess miraculous powers.

Ca' Rezzonico Ca’ Rezzonico, or the Venetian 18th Century museum, was a palace built by the Rezzonico in 1649 and designed by the Venetian architect Baldassarre Longhena. It was completed in 1750 by Giorgio Massari. Ca' Rezzonico contains many tapestries, lacquerwork and armchairs typical of the 18th century and many works by Canaletto, Rosalba Carriera, Giambattista Tiepolo and Francesco Guardi.

Galleira dell'Accademia

The Gallerie dell’Accademia is Venice’s most important and prestigious art gallery features an impressive collection of Venetian paintings and works by such artists as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and Canaletto. The museum occupies the former monastery, church, and school of Santa Maria della Carità.

Venice’s Jewish Ghetto

Venice’s Jewish ghetto was one of the first of its type in Europe, designed to both isolate and protect from persecution Venice’s Jewish community. By the 17th Century, Venice’s Jews had become an important part of the city’s life, controlling the city’s foreign trade and providing numerous physicians, lawyers, and scholars. Napoleon ended the practice of isolating the city’s Jewish community, tearing down the gates of the ghetto. Some two hundred of Venice’s Jews were murdered during the Nazi holocaust. Tours of the Ghetto are available year-round at the Museo Comunità Ebraica (Jewish Community Museum) in the Campo Ghetto Nuovo, which has a large collection of religious objects and silverware. The tour has several departures and lasts about 40 minutes. The price is a bit expensive, but the three synagogues included in the tour are worth visiting if you're even remotely interested in Venetian history or Jewish culture.

Murano

Though there are excellent glass blowing shops in Venice proper, the center of Venetian glass blowing in on the island of Murano. For centuries, Venice kept the techniques of their glass blowing a state secret, but now a visitor can see a demonstration of the art in a number of glass blowing shops and virtually every other shop in Venice has pretty figurines, drinking ware, and other examples of the glass blowing art. Of particular interest is the Museo Vetrario on Murano which contains a collection of glass artifacts from throughout the centuries.

Burano

Just as Murano is famous for glass blowing, the island of Burano is famous for lace making. Be sure to visit the Scuola di Merletti for a display and demonstration of the art of lace making.

Visiting Venice

Venice is accessible by rail or road, though there is a car park just outside the city, Getting around inside the city is relatively easy. A brisk walk will take one across its length in about an hour. However, the Grand Canal, which winds through the middle of the city, is the main highway, but traversed by boats. The Vaporetti or water busses will take you up and down the Canal as well as to outlaying islands like Murano and Burano. Of course, a ride on a gondola is a must when visiting Venice. A gondola ride can be gotten at a travel agency or negotiated directed with the gondolier.

A note on prices: Venice can be quite expensive, but the farther away one gets from the Piazza San Marco, the prices of hotels, restaurants, and shops tend to decrease.