Attractions

Strada Nova with the Ca'd'Oro Palace
Piazza San Marco
Basilica of San Marco
Palazzo Ducale
Ponte dei Sospiri
Canal Grande
Basilica della Salute
Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Ponte di Rialto (Rialto's bridge)
Mercato di Rialto (Rialto's Market)


It is a very difficult task to specify in a few lines the countless attractions that make Venezia one of the most world famous tourist cities. One only has to mention Piazza San Marco, the traditional postcard scene of Venezia with its famous cafes and surrounded by beautiful Renaissance buildings, with the Basilica of the same name overlooking the whole square.
Nearby is Palazzo Ducale, a typical example of Gothic-Venetian architecture, housing works by famous artists. The Grand Canal, the world's most beautiful and famous waterway offers an unending succession of the most incredibly beautiful buildings, among which the 15th century Ca'd'Oro, the Baroque Ca'Rezzonico and
Ca' Pesaro, concluding with the church della Salute. The campi (the small squares) are of great environmental and artistic interest,
always surrounded by building or churches worthy of a visit. Lastly, one must not fail to take a trip in a gondola under the famous Ponte di Rialto and the even more famous Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs).


Strada Nova with the Ca'd'Oro Palace

The series of main streets that cross all Cannaregio starts here with the Strada Nova in which there is the Ca'd'Oro palace. Originally called Via Vittorio Emanuele now Strada Nova this street is a broad totally different from the others in Venice. It was opened up in 1871-72 by knocking down of houses, the widening of narrow alleyways and skirting the Gran Canal, leading directly from Rialto to the railway station. Coming from SS. Apostoli halfway down on the left you find Calle della Ca'd'Oro in which there is the entrance of the Ca'd'Oro now the home of the Franchetty Gallery. The palace is one of the gems of Venetian Gothic art built in the early 15th century for Marini Contarini and is called Ca'd'Oro (golden house) because of the abundant gilding and color which once adorned the facade. The design was perhaps by Marci D'Amadio but it was carried out by Lombard craftsmen and later by Venetians. The Ca'd'Oro changed hands many times and was finally bought and restored in the 19th century by Baron Giorgio Franchetty, who in 1916 donated his paintings collection and the building to the state. In 1927 was opened a museum, which contains many works of Titian and Tintoretto and Gothic and Renaissance furniture.
Take any boat line from Rialto stop to Piazzale Roma and look around and admire the Ca'd'Oro building facade on your right.


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Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco has always been the center of the city. It was called Piazza instead of Campi because even in its name it had to be unique.
At the beginning of the 9th century, when the Veneti chose this land as the seat of their Government, and built their Ducal castle and later their Basilica, the piazza was much smaller. It was squeezed more or less between the facade of the church and a canal, now filled in, called the rio Batario. In time, about the end of the 12th century, the church of San Marco was enlarged, the Ducal Palace was turned into a "palacio" and the political and commercial power of Venice had become far stronger and firmer. Thus little by little the Piazza came to be what it was when Gentile Bellini drew it in his famous painting of the Procession of the Cross, at the end of the 15th century. The Piazza put in order in this way, with herring-bone brick pavement until 1264. Later, with the modern type of Euganean trachite with white stripes, which was used for the first time in 1723, from a design by Andrea Tirali, it becomes the most suitable place for fetes, cavalcades and ceremonies.


Basilica of San Marco

Its present-day appearance is the result of numerous restorations performed starting from the end of the 11th century to the 14th century, although its origins date back to the 5th century when it was constructed to guard the mortal remains of St Mark stolen from Egypt by two Venetian merchants. The pincer-shaped atrium embracing the orthodox cross plan of the basilica is surmounted by nine small domes, that with their marble and mosaic give a foretaste of its exceptionally evocative interior. Its overall appearance is a beautiful combination of styles, with its Romanesque plan, Gothic decoration and mosaic work of clearly Byzantine influence.


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Palazzo Ducale

The official residence of the doges of Venice and the seat of the republic government from the 9th century until the fall of the Republic in 1797. It also housed government officials and the prison. The palace dates from the 14th century and the two magnificent Gothic facades overlook the canal and the Piazzetta. The interior is still intact with many paintings by Venetian artists. Don't miss Tintoretto's "Paradise", one of the world's largest oil paintings, and the "Apotheosis of Venice" by Veronese in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio.


Ponte dei Sospiri

The "Bridge of Sighs" named after the fact that prisoners sighed as they crossed the canal, knowing it was the last time they would see Venezia before going to the dungeons.




Canal Grande

To experience the atmosphere of Venice a sunset trip along the Grand Canal is a must. The finest architecture and most imposing facades can be admired from a gondola or alternatively board the slow Vaporetto No. 1 at Piazzale Roma, which travels at a sufficiently slow pace for you to take in the sights.
The Grand Canal is approximately 3.5 km long and varies in width from between 30 to 70 meters. Following the shape of an inverted "s", sights include more than 100 palaces dating from the 12th to 18th century and splendid waterways that are unparalleled anywhere in the world. Three bridges span the canal, the Accademia, the Rialto and the Scalzi.


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Basilica della Salute

On October the 22nd 1630 the Senate decreed that in order to give thanks for the liberation of Venice from a virulent plague, they would build a great church to be dedicated to the Virgin. Among the eleven models presented the one by Baldassarre Longhena was chosen. He gave the main facade grander proportions, and in the middle placed the splendid doorway, crowning the pediment and the space between the columns with statues. To increase the feeling of grandeur he placed the whole mass on a raised platform with a flight of steps in front, which were restored in 1899. The interior is surprisingly effective in the sober grandeur of the masses, it consist of a central body on an octagonal plan, on each side of which rise a corresponding number of stout arches divided by composite columns on which rest the cornice and the drum of the colossal dome. Inside there is a large collection of paintings and sculptures, to name just a few: the Pentecost, St. Roch and St. Sebastian, David and Goliath and Cain and Abel by Titian; Wedding at Cana of Tintoretto and Jonas and Samson of Palma The Younger.


Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo

This is another artistic-architectural complex of equal importance, which lies to the north of the Piazza San Marco complex, dominated by its basilica, locally known as San Zanipolo. Begun in 1246 and consecrated in 1430, this veritable jewel of Gothic architecture contains the tombs of the city's most illustrious figures, as well as many admirable works of art.
To one side of its facade stands the School Grande di San Marco, and to the other the Equestrian Monument to Bartholomew Colleoni by Andrea Verrocchio.


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Santa Maria dei Miracoli

Nearby one can find the Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1481-89) constructed by Pietro Lombardo to house a painting dedicated to the Virgin Mary dated 1408, much venerated by the Venetians.








Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

Another exceptional monumental complex is to be found on the opposite side of the Grand Canal, in the quarter known as
San Polo, made up of two adjacent buildings: the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, and the School Grande di San Rocco. This church is one of Venice's greatest monuments for the impressive number of artworks adoring it. Its construction, which took over a century, was begun in 1340 in the purest of Gothic styles. Most memorable among the masterpieces it houses is the triptych by Giovanni Bellini, Donatello's St John the Bopust (1450), and the Madonna of Ca'Pesaro, painted by Tiziano in 1526. San Rocco is one of the Great Schools of Venice, that served as the seat of the city's arts and crafts guilds, and that was an essential part of the city's social structure. It is famous above all for the endless cycle of grand paintings done by Jacopo Tintoretto between 1564 and 1587, who won the commission by presenting a complete painting on cloth instead of a sketch.


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Ponte di Rialto (Rialto's bridge)

This was formerly the only permanent link between the two banks of the Grand Canal into which the city was divided. It seems that already in 1172, under Doge Ziani, a bridge of barges was planned; a legend instead relates that in 1181 a pontoon bridge was erected by Nicolo Baratieri. About the middle of the 12th century it was replaced by a bridge supported on wooden posts that was destroyed in 1310; the new one collapsed in 1444 and was rebuilt in wood again but enlarged and with shops on it.

The bridge as we see it today was built between 1588 -1591 by Antonio Da Ponte whose designs was presented together with those of the most famous architects of that time. The construction was difficult because of the instability of the site and the height (25 feet). As we see it now is a great architectural masterpiece for its two sides of arcade and contributes to make great the view of the Gran Canal. As a suggest take line n 1 boat from San Zaccaria and admire the Gran Canal; we grant you'll be embarrassed looking right or left always loosing something as there is palaces and wonderful buildings one close to another.


Mercato di Rialto (Rialto's Market)

The first market area you find down the bridge on your right is called "Naranzeria" (orange market) and it embraces the apse of the Church of San Giacometto and the Palazzo Dei Camerlenghi.
The other market's sites are Ruga degli orefici, where you can find the fruit and vegetables market, and Campo di Rialto, formerly the residence of those in charge of trade, navigation and supplies, and of the Tribunal that is still there. It' very funny to get lost inside the market, looking here and there to all the delicious food that it shows you. Rialto is even for Venetians a colorful market where they can easily find everything from flowers to the most unusual lagoon fishes.