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.