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Attractions in Venice

Written by Barbara Radcliffe Rogers

Nov 17, 2020
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In a city as filled with tourist attractions as Venice, it's hard to know

where to begin. Perhaps the best way is to simply get lost for a few 19 Best Places to Visit in the United
States
hours wandering through its enchanting little streets and
passageways, strolling beside its canals, and finding its secret
corners.

At every turn, you'll see something worth remembering with a photo.

No matter where this exploration takes you, it's easy to find your
way back to Piazza San Marco and the Grand Canal. Most of the
best sights you'll want to visit lie around these two landmarks.

Venice is divided into six sestieri, neighborhoods that have distinctly

different characters. San Marco is the central one, surrounded on 11 Best Luxury All-Inclusive Resorts
in the World
three sides by a great loop in the Grand Canal. Across Rialto Bridge
is the artisans' neighborhood of San Polo, and across the Grand
Canal to the south is stylish Dorsoduro, with its prestigious art
museums and lively squares.

At the outer edges are Santa Croce, Castello, and Cannaregio,

home of the original Ghetto. Beyond the six sestieri - neighborhoods
- of the city itself, you'll want to hop aboard a vaporetto to its islands:
Lido, Murano, Burano, and Torcello. A fourth island, San Giorgio
Maggiore, is worth visiting for the beautiful views of San Marco and
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Venice from the tower of its church.

To plan your stay so you won't miss any of the best places to visit,
use this list of the top attractions in Venice.

See also: Where to Stay in Venice

Note: Some businesses may be temporarily closed due to recent global

health and safety issues.

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1. St. Mark's Basilica

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St. Mark's Basilica

Certainly Venice's best-known church, and one of the most

easily recognized in the world, St. Mark's Basilica (Basilica di
San Marco) was originally the Doge's private chapel,
decorated with Byzantine art treasures that are part of the
booty brought back by Venetian ships after the fall of
Constantinople.

The gold-backed mosaic pictures above the doorways on the

façade only hint at the mosaic artistry inside, where 4,240
square meters of gold mosaics cover the domes and walls.
These set a distinctly Byzantine tone to its soaring interior,
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The magnificent golden altarpiece, the Pala d'Oro, one of the Twitter.

finest in Europe, was begun by early 12th-century artists, and

centuries later, adorned with nearly 2,000 gems and precious
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stones. If you can tear your eyes from this, the mosaic
domes, and the multitude of richly decorated altars, glance
down at the floor, a masterpiece of marble inlay. And take
time to see the gold reliquaries and icons in the Treasury.

Read More:
Exploring St. Mark's Basilica in Venice: A Visitor's Guide

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2. Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square)

St. Mark's Square

The vast expanse of Venice's largest square is brought

together and made to seem almost intimate by the elegant
uniformity of its architecture on three sides. But more than its
architectural grace, St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) is
loved as Venice's living room, the place everybody gathers,
strolls, drinks coffee, stops to chat, meets friends and tour
guides, or just passes through on the way to work or play.

Three sides are framed in arcades, beneath which are

fashionable shops and even more fashionable cafés. The
open end is bookmarked by the erratic, exotic curves, swirls,
mosaics, and lacy stone filigree of St. Mark's Basilica.

Above it towers the brick shaft of the campanile. For

overviews of this busy piazza, you can go to its top or to the
top of the Torre dell'Orologio, where a pair of "Moors"
strikes the hour.

Read More:
St. Mark's Square, Venice: 12 Top Attractions, Tours &
Nearby Hotels

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3. Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) and Bridge of

Sighs

Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) and Bridge of Sighs

Visitors arriving in Venice once stepped ashore under the

façade of this extraordinary palace. They couldn't have failed
to be impressed, both by its size and the finesse of its
architecture.

If they were received inside by the Doges, the impression

would only strengthen as they entered through the Porta
della Carta, a perfect example of Venetian Gothic at its
height, and ascended the monumental Scala dei Giganti and
the gold-vaulted Scala d'Oro to be received in what many
consider to be the palace's most beautiful chamber, Sala del
Collegio.

Even jaded 21st-century travelers gasp in awe at the

palace's grandeur and lavish decoration. You'll see works by
all the Venetian greats, including Tintoretto, whose Paradise
is the largest oil painting in the world.

Not open on public tours but included on private tours is a

walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the dark cells of the
Prigioni - the prisons from which Casanova made his famous
escape. The best view - and the postcard classic - of the
Bridge of Sighs is from the Ponte della Paglia, on the Riva
degli Schiavoni behind the Doge's Palace.

Lines for admission to the Doge's Palace are often long, but
you can avoid these, and see sections of the palace not open
to general visitors, with a Skip the Line: Doge's Palace Ticket
and Tour . A local guide will take you past the lines and
explain the history and art in each of the dazzling rooms
before leading you across the Bridge of Sighs and into the
notorious prison.

Read More:
Exploring the Doge's Palace in Venice: A Visitor's Guide

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4. Canale Grande (Grand Canal)

Canale Grande (Grand Canal)

Sweeping through the heart of Venice in a giant reverse S

curve, the Grand Canal is the principal boulevard through the
city, connecting Piazza San Marco, Rialto Bridge, and the
arrival points of the rail station and bridge from the mainland.

Only four bridges cross its 3.8-kilometer length, but stripped-

down gondolas called traghetti shuttle back and forth at
several points between bridges. The Grand Canal was the
address of choice for anyone who claimed any influence in
Venice. Palaces of all the leading families open onto the
canal, their showy Venetian Gothic and Early Renaissance
facades facing the water, by which visitors arrived.

These grand palaces - or at least their facades - are well

preserved today, and a trip along the canal by vaporetto is
the best way to see them. And, of course, a ride along the
Grand Canal in a gondola is one of the most romantic things
to do in Venice at night.

Read More:
Exploring the Grand Canal in Venice: Top Attractions

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5. Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) and San Polo

Rialto Bridge

Once the only bridge across the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge
marks the spot of the island's first settlement, called Rivus
Altus (high bank). Built in 1588, some 150 years after the
collapse of a previous wooden bridge, this stone arch
supports two busy streets and a double set of shops.

Along with serving as a busy crossing point midway along the

canal, it is a favorite vantage point for tourists taking - or
posing for - photos, and for watching the assortment of boats
always passing under it.

The church of San Bartolomeo, close to the San Marco end

of the bridge, was the church of the German merchants who
lived and worked in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (German
Commodity Exchange) bordering the canal here. It has an
excellent altarpiece, The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, by
Palma the Younger. The former exchange is now a popular
place to go shopping.

On the other side of Rialto Bridge is the busy food market,

where Venetians and chefs shop for fresh produce and
seafood. In the narrow streets of San Polo, beyond the
market, are artisans' shops and mask-making studios, one of
the best places for shopping in Venice. You'll also find
places to eat that are not so filled with tourists as those
nearer San Marco.

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6. Scuola Grande di San Rocco

Scuola Grande di San Rocco

This impressive white marble building was built between

1515 and 1560 to house a charitable society dedicated to
San Rocco. Soon after its completion, the great 16th-century
Venetian artist Tintoretto won the competition to paint a
central panel for the ceiling of the Sala dell'Albergo by
entering the building and putting his painting in its intended
place before the judging, much to the irritation of his rival
artists.

He later decorated its walls and ceilings with a complete

cycle of paintings, which are considered to be the artist's
masterpiece. The earliest works, in the Sala dell'Albergo,
date to 1564 and 1576 and include The Glorification of St.
Roch, Christ before Pilate, the Ecce Homo, and the most
powerful of all, The Crucifixion. Those in the upper hall depict
New Testament scenes, painted between 1575 and 1581.

The lighting is not good, and the paintings themselves are

dark, but you can still appreciate Tintoretto's innovations in
the use of light and color. You can see the ceilings more
easily with one of the mirrors that are provided. More works
by Tintoretto are in the chancel of the adjacent church of San
Rocco.

Address: Campo San Rocco, San Polo, Venice

Official site: www.scuolagrandesanrocco.org/home-en

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7. Ca' d'Oro

Ca' d'Oro

The delicate marble filigree by Bartolomeo Bon seems too

lace-like to be carved of stone, and you can only imagine the
impression this façade must have made covered in its
original paint and gold. Along with the Porta della Carta in the
Palazzo Ducale, also created by Bartolomeo Bon, this is
considered the most perfect example of Venetian Gothic.

You can admire the interior, too, as this palazzo is now an art
museum, restored to provide both a setting for the art works
and a look at the way wealthy Venetians lived in the 15th and
16th centuries. The connoisseur responsible for saving the
palace, Baron Giorgio Franchetti, gave his art collection to
the state in 1922, with works by Titian, Mantegna, Van Dyck,
Tullio Lombardo, and Bernini.

Official site: http://www.cadoro.org/?lang=en

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8. Murano and Burano

Murano and Burano

A trip to Venice wouldn't be complete without hopping aboard

a vaporetto for the ride across the lagoon to Murano, home of
Venice's fabled glass workers. They were sent here in the
13th century in hope of decreasing the risk of fire from one of
the glass furnaces sweeping through Venice's tightly
compacted center.

Or so they claimed. Just as likely, it was to keep the secrets

of glassblowing a Venetian monopoly. This was no small
matter to the Venetians, whose Council of Ten decreed in
1454: "If a glass-blower takes his skill to another country to
the detriment of the Republic he shall be ordered to return;
should be refuse, his nearest relatives shall be thrown into
prison so that his sense of family duty may induce him to
return; should he persist in his disobedience secret measures
shall be taken to eliminate him wherever he may be." It was a
lot easier to keep track of them if they were confined to an
island.

The canal sides today are lined by glass showrooms and

studios, showing everything from cheap imported trinkets to
exquisite works of art. Inside the 17th-century Palazzo
Giustinian is the Glass Museum, with one of the largest and
most important collections of Venetian glass from the time of
the Romans to the 20th century.

But it's not all glass: The church of Santi Maria e Donato
combines Veneto-Byzantine and Early Romanesque
features, a result of its various stages of building between the
seventh and 12th centuries. Notice especially the columns of
Greek marble with Veneto-Byzantine capitals, the 12th-
century mosaic floor with animal figures, and the St. Donato
above the first altar on the left. Dated 1310, it is the earliest
example of Venetian painting.

The 14th-century San Pietro Martire contains several

splendid Venetian paintings: Bellini's Madonna in Majesty
with St. Mark and the Doge Agostino Barbarigo and his
Assumption of the Virgin, along with St. Jerome in the
Wilderness and St. Agatha in Prison by Paolo Veronese.

It's a quick hop to the next island, Burano, a fishing village of

brilliantly painted houses, known historically for its lace
making. The Scuola dei Merletti (lace school) and its small
museum will help you distinguish the real thing from the
cheap imports you'll find in most shops.

The slender campanile of the 16th-century church of San

Martino leans at an alarming angle, made all the more
dramatic by its height.