It is always an understatement to list things to do in Venice. There are so many details and glimpses that talk about one inevitably doing the other wrong. It is also true, however, that in a world-famous city, second in the flow of visitors only to Rome, the “tourist” story ends up obscuring the more “unusual” but no less beautiful parts. Hence, the need to insert other “tips” alongside the essential stops (Piazza San Marco, Rialto Bridge, etc.). As for the periods of the year in which to visit it, spring and autumn are preferable, unless you like high water (continuously monitored by the Tide Center of the municipality) and Carnival. Said this. Visiting Venice at least once in a lifetime is always worthwhile regardless of the seasons and weather, and sea conditions. Enjoy the reading.
01 St. Mark’s Square ( Piazza San Marco )
Heart of the Serenissima Republic of Venice and, at the same time, the living room of Europe. Piazza San Marco has always had this “glocal” vocation: a symbol of Venice and a multicultural environment par excellence. It is inevitable that it is the first stop for anyone arriving in the city. A photo in the center of this trapezoidal square will also be an abused rite, which will make some overzealous locals turn up their noses, but absolutely “must be done”. All around only works of inestimable value: from the Basilica to the bell tower, to the Doge’s Palace. Wonders that the whole world envies the city and Italy deserves to treat separately.
02 St. Mark’s Basilica ( Basilica di San Marco )
After arriving in Piazza San Marco and having taken all the usual photos, the very first thing to do is to visit the Basilica of the same name. The reason is soon said. It represents the living legacy of Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian culture. Especially of the latter since the inhabitants of the Serenissima, a proud seafaring people, have taken steps over the centuries to embellish and adorn it with artifacts from the most distant lands of the East. Moreover, considering the myth of the foundation of the church, it could not be otherwise. Legend has it that the need to erect a temple arose following the stealing of the saint’s relics from Alexandria in Egypt by two Venetian merchants. The golden mosaics inside do not leave indifferent even the most tenacious of agnostics. To see, in the Museum of the Basilica, the Four Horses of San Marco. Until the 1980s, these sculptures from Constantinople (stolen at the end of the 18th century by Napoleon Bonaparte and brought back to the city in 1815 after the defeat of Waterloo) were placed on the terrace of the Basilica. Subsequently, the need arose to protect them from the elements by housing them in a specific room of the Museum set up in the spaces above the north-western atrium. Those currently visible on the outside are therefore identical copies.
Free entry. Sundays and public holidays: 2 pm – 5 pm. The passage from 4.45 pm to 5.00 pm takes place on Easter (March / April). The visit lasts approximately 10 minutes. Clothing in keeping with the sacredness of the place is recommended.
November 9.45 – 4.45 pm
December 9.45 – 16.45
January 9.45 – 16.45
February 9.45 – 4.45pm
March 9.45 – 16.45
April 9.45 – 16.45
May 9.45 – 17.00
June 9.45 – 17.00
July 9.45 – 17.00
August 9.45 – 17.00
September 9.45 – 17.00
October 9.45 – 17.00
For more information: www.basilicasanmarco.it
03 St Mark’s bell tower ( Campanile di San Marco )
With the homonymous Square and Basilica, the Campanile di San Marco is an essential stop on a visit to Venice. “El paron de casa” (transl. “The master of the house”) as the Venetians call it is a 99-meter bell tower, built initially for sighting and defense. Over the centuries, it has undergone several changes and renovations, the most important of which in the sixteenth century with the construction, by Jacopo Sansovino, of the loggia at the base of the tower. Important interventions were also carried out the day after July 14, 1902, when the bell tower collapsed on the square. It took ten years to rebuild it “as it was and where it was,” according to the famous statement made during the inauguration speech (April 25, 1912) by the then-mayor Filippo Grimani, the most influential politician in the city at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The bell tower of San Marco is also famous for the Flight of the Angel, the opening anniversary of the Venice Carnival. An artist, attached to a metal cable, flies – “flies” in dialect – from the belfry to the center of the square. Since 1962, an elevator has allowed visitors to comfortably reach the top in no time.
Timetables:
October and November 9.00 / 19.00
November – April 9.30 / 15.45
April – June 9.00 / 19.00
July – September 9.00 / 21.00
The ticket office closes one hour earlier.
04 Ducal Palace
Palazzo Ducale is a must for anyone wishing to deepen the historical, cultural, and political importance of Venice, a bridge city between West and East for centuries. Majestic architecture, an emblem of Venetian Gothic, is further embellished by the huge amount of works of art housed in the three large buildings that make up the structure. Structure up to 1797 followed the developments of the millenary Serenissima Republic (Palazzo Ducale was the seat of the Doge of Venice), later passing first into French, then Austrian hands, until the Italian annexation in 1866. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of ‘900, the young Italian state provided a radical restoration of the Doge’s Palace. It was a far-sighted and not at all obvious initiative, given the enormous amount of problems and inequalities that unification brought. Since the 1920s, the Doge’s Palace has been the seat of the Superintendence for Environmental and Architectural Heritage of Venice and the Lagoon. Furthermore, since 1996 it has been an integral part of the system of the city’s Civic Museums.
To find out more: The Doge’s Palace in Venice in brief.
Timetables
1st April – 31st October 8.30 / 19.00 (admission allowed until 18.00)
1st November – 31st March 8.30 / 17.30 (admission allowed until 16.30) Closed on 25 December and 1 January
Website: palazzoducale.visitmuve.it
05 Grand Canal
Three thousand eight hundred meters long, the Grand Canal – “Canalaso” as the Venetians call it – is still the main axis for transport in the city. A ride on a Vaporetto or, better still, a gondola is, therefore, a must. By Vaporetto, the lines most frequented by tourists are 1 and 2. The single ride costs € 7.00 and is valid for 60 minutes. An almost uninterrupted parade of buildings to relive the glories of the Venetian Republic, paying attention to the numerous architectural traces that have survived the erosion of water over the centuries (aggravated by the wave motion). By gondola, however, the ride costs no less than 80 € uro for about 30 minutes. There are those who argue that it is not worth it but, judging by the question, it must be admitted that most do not think so. A curiosity. In Venice, there is a kind of collective taxi in a gondola that the inhabitants call “ferry”. It stands upright and connects the two banks of the Grand Canal at different points. Above all, it costs very little. Ideal for trying to understand how a genuine lagoon lives and moves.
06 Peggy Guggenheim Museum
Picasso, Kandinsky, Magritte, De Chirico, Boccioni, Dalì are just some artists whose works have become part of the Peggy Guggenheim collection over time. One of the most important museums on European and American art of the twentieth century is located in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal. In addition to the permanent exhibition with the works of this American collector buried, among other things, in the palace garden (Marguerite “Peggy” Guggenheim 1898-1979), the museum is characterized by an intense calendar of activities with exhibitions, debates, and training initiatives aimed at children. Good to know: it is allowed to take pictures inside the galleries as long as there is no flash. The use of tripods or monopods is prohibited.
Timetables
Every day (Tuesday closed) 10.00 / 18.00
Closed on December 25th
Ticket 15.00 €
Free admission for children up to 10 years. Further reductions and discounts are foreseen.
For more information: www.guggenheim-venice.it
07 Rialto bridge
Paintings, sonnets, films, and shows. Rialto Bridge, the oldest – and most famous – of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal, has been the subject of numerous works of art over the centuries. Among these, Federico Fellini’s 1976 film “Casanova”, although the city (including the bridge) that we see in the Rimini director’s film was reproduced in its entirety in the Cinecittà studios. As for history, the bridge has allowed the crossing of the banks of the Grand Canal since the twelfth century. The current form, however, dates back to 1591, the year in which the project by the Venetian architect Antonio Da Ponte was completed. Despite the subsequent interventions and renovations, the shape of the Rialto Bridge is still that of the sixteenth century. And it will remain so even at the end of the restoration project financed by Renzo Rosso, owner of “Diesel” and other famous clothing brands. Renzo Rosso and the municipality of Venice have also dedicated a website to the project, which explains the intervention criteria and the design choices that will be implemented (www.restauropontedirialto.it).
08 Casino Venier
Alongside the tourist Venice, there is another city “out of the ordinary.” If you are looking for an unusual Venice, and therefore more authentic, it is this part of the city that you must look for. As? Even simply wandering around aimlessly through the “sestieri”, the city is divided into six districts. Or, as in this case, following some targeted advice. Casino Venier, between the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square, is worth a visit because it is one of the last Venetian residences. There is a peephole on the floor to monitor whoever was about to enter. A very common precaution in 1700s Venice, a period of maximum diffusion of “casini,” small noble houses where people gambled, danced, and discussed politics and philosophy. For thirty years, to be precise, since 1987, this house has been the headquarters of the Alliance Française. This foundation pursues the cultural and artistic exchange between local and French-speaking cultures throughout the world. In short, the French, the architects of the end of the glorious Republic of Venice, are the guardians of one of the hidden jewels of the city. The address is Ponte dei Bareteri, San Marco 4939.
Timetables:
Monday to Friday 9.00-13.00 / 15.00-18.00
09 Jewish Ghetto
Even those who have never set foot in Venice in his life have heard of St. Mark’s Square, the Campanile, the Rialto Bridge, the gondola ride, etc. In short, the places and habits that have contributed most to the formation of the tourist image of the lagoon city. But Venice is also something else. More. For example, the Jewish Ghetto in the Casaregio district is certainly worth a visit. Five synagogues, a museum, and the casetorri (the Venetian Ghetto is the only district of the city to have had an overall development in height) to discover how the Jews of Venice lived for almost three centuries – from 1516 to 1797 -. Today the Ghetto is a dynamic and full of life neighborhood where 500 members of the Jewish community still live, guardians of an ancient culture and revealing stories of the limitations suffered first by the Serenissima Republic of Venice and, over a century later, in 1938 (year of the promulgation of racial laws in Italy), by the fascist regime.
10 Murano Glass Museum
You cannot come to Venice and not take a tour of the lagoon. An essential stop on this tour, the Murano Glass Museum. Seven paths, from the fourteenth century to the contemporary, to get to know and deepen this ancient form of art that is the patrimony of the city and of the whole of Italy. The Murano Glass Museum (which can be visited with a single ticket together with the Burano Lace Museum) respects the following times:
from 1 April to 31 October 10.00 / 18.00 (ticket office 10.00 – 17.00)
from 1 November to 31 March 10.00 / 17.00 (ticket office 10.00 – 16.00)
Closed on December 25th, January 1st
For more information: museovetro.visitmuve.it
11 Rialto market
If you want to savor the popular atmosphere of Venice, there is no better place than the Rialto market, not far from the famous bridge of the same name. Fruit, vegetable, and fish market, already crowded with tourists and residents from the early morning. A historical place for Venetians, to be recommended to anyone really eager to learn more about the “genius loci” of the city, going beyond its many postcard images. A curiosity. On the walls around the market, the inscriptions with the regulatory measures of fish promulgated at the Serenissima Republic are still visible. Historic!
Rialto fruit and vegetable market
San Polo, Casaria – Campo de la Pescheria
from Monday to Saturday 7.00 / 20.00
Rialto fish market
San Polo, Campo de le Becarie – Loggia Grande and Loggia Piccola
from Tuesday to Saturday 7.00 / 14.00
12 Go to Bacardi
Venice, as we have said, is not just gondolas and souvenirs. Therefore, apart from the unmissable stops (Piazza San Marco, Grand Canal, etc.), the advice is to let yourself go through the Sestriere of the city. Getting lost in Venice is probably the most beautiful thing to a tourist. And if at some point you get hungry, forget about the pretentious places, those reviewed in most tourist guides, and go in search of a real Bacaro !. Things? It is the typical Venetian tavern, nothing more than a small bar where food is just an excuse to enjoy a shade of red or white. The fact that food is a function of wine does not mean that it is of poor quality. On the contrary, from the crostini of cod to the mozzarella in Carrozza, it is in these places, where you often stand, that you will find first quality raw materials. On the web, there is no shortage of guides, insights, and advice on the best bacari in the city.
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