Venice, Italy

La Serenissima, The Serene Republic, shimmers with an essence as alluring as the visions of a romantic imagination. Mists rise on the canals and glimmer in the sunlight as if lifted from an impressionist's canvas. A city of islands, its dignified buildings and warm, confident people thrive now as surely as they did during 1,000 years of sovereignty over the seafaring world. Today, it isn't merchants who flood the canals and winding streets, but enchanted travelers from every corner of the globe. They come in search of that which has inspired artists, composers, writers, and poets for centuries. Vivaldi, Titian, Hemingway, and countless others criss-crossed the world to reach this Adriatic muse. Byron, with characteristic passion, literally threw himself into the heart of Venice, swimming often from his home on the Grand Canal to the resort of The Lido.

As improbable a city as ever was built, Venice is made up of 117 islands with 200 canals and over 400 bridges. It was created in the first millenium by men who fled the mainland barbarians and defied the sea to establish this lavish city on a lagoon. Venetian creations along with treasures looted from across the Mediterranean and Asia adorn every surface you walk, rest, or gaze upon. Just about everyone who has seen it agrees that it is the most beautiful city in the world. Italian poet Pietro Aretino rhapsodized that "If the Earthly Paradise where Adam dwelt with Eve were like Venice, Eve would have had a difficult time tempting him away from it with a mere fig." Alas, the modern traveler has an airline departure date to end his Venetian affair, though surely nothing else would succeed!

Areas Within the Destination

The 117 islands that make up the city of Venice are divided into districts known as sestieri, with a few major ones on which your vacation will probably focus:

San Marco: Home to the majority of the essential sights, it is accordingly the most expensive and most crowded district of the city. This section is enclosed by the lower loop of the Grand Canal and is, in essence, the Venice you see in travel brochures.

Castello: Northeast of San Marco, Castello is home to the Miracoli church, built in the 1480s to house a painting of the Madonna believed to have performed a number of miracles. The church also has some of the most intricate decorative sculpture in Venice. To the east is the most impressive open space in Venice after the Piazza San Marco, dominated by the brick church of San Zanipolo founded in 1246 and best known for its tombs and monuments. On the square outside the church,Verrochio's statue of the Venetian military hero Bartolomeo Colleoni, commissioned in 1481, is one of the finest Renaissance equestrian monuments in Italy.

Cannaregio: This northernmost section of Venice is small enough to go from one end of the sestiere to another in a matter of minutes. It's a short distance from the bustle of the train station to some of the quietest and prettiest parts of the whole city. A couple of the oldest synagogues - the Scola Levantina, founded in 1538, and the Scola Spagnola, founded twenty years later - are still in use and can be toured. Northeast of the ghetto, the church of Madonna dell'Orto contains several paintings by Tintoretto, who is buried in the chapel.

Dorsoduro: You can see some of the finest architecture in Venice here, as well as one of the finest specialized collections of European art that follows the history of Venetian painting from the 14th to the 18th centuries and includes works by Tintoretto and Titian. The church of Santa Maria della Salute resulted from a Senate decree of 1630 that a new church be dedicated to Mary if the city was delivered from plague. A major social event still commemorates this deliverance. A collection of Titian paintings was moved here in the mid-1600s.

San Polo: North of Dorsoduro is the sestiere of San Polo, with a lively market on the far side of the Rialto Bridge that's one of the few places in the city where the people only speak Italian. Visit the brick church of the Frari, with an art collection that includes rare Titians and a Donatello sculpture. Titian is buried in the church. At the rear of the Frari is the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, a 16th-century building with more than 50 paintings by Tintoretto.

Santa Croce: Bustling with life, its winding and narrow streets open here and there onto lively markets and squares alternating between grand and humble. One of the commercial centers of the city, it is also known for its architectural treasures.

 

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