Despite its church by Palladio, the island of San Giorgio Maggiore is not on the main tourist circuit and this is part of its charm. Here, a little distance from the hubbub of Piazza San Marco , visitors can contemplate the waterfront or, from the t..

The last palace designed by Baldassare Longhena (built by Massari) is now a museum dedicated to 18C Venice (Museo del Settecento Veneziano). It has works by Tiepolo ( Virtue and Nobility putting Ignorance to Flight ), canal scenes by Canaletto, por..

This church has a complex layout and a very rich decor. Note the painting by Titian and a funerary monument by Sansovino. There is a bust marking the location of Veronese’s tomb – who dedicated a large portion of his life to painting superb frescoes ..

According to some people, it owes its name to a banker who had it built in the 16th C. Others logically explain that in the Venetian dialect canton designates an angle position, which is the case of this synagogue. Whatever is origin, this synagogu..

Like the other synagogues of Venice, this one (the largest) has a bifocal plan, with the pulpit and the tabernacle being placed across from each other on the short sides of the hall. Its reconstruction in the 17C is attributed to Baldassare Longhena..

This word evokes older and more recent horrors, but the Ghetto was first of all a neighborhood in Venice. Its taller buildings stand out, taller because Jews were forced to remain there no matter how much their population increased. Nowadays, the uni..

In the late 13C, the Great Council, fearing a major fire, decided to relocate the glassmaking industry to Murano, ever since when this has been the island of glass. The ovens and insistent requests from vendors to visit shops and workshops should not..

Formerly bordered by Ravenna and L'Aquila, Chioggia to the west and Trieste to the east now mark the limits of the lagoon. Tides play a major role in the day-to-day life of Venice, threatening it with floods and the prospect of ultimately engulfing t..

Facing the canal, the chevet of this very old basilica offers a remarkable view. The central circular apse is a masterpiece of Venetian Byzantine art of the 12C. Inside, a superb floor made of mosaic that is especially rich in terms of embellishments..

A small island 45 minutes from Venice where, in spite of the canals, everything is quite different: not a single palace, but simple fishermen's homes with brightly colored facades along tiny streets and along the quays of the village, an upbeat atmos..

In the middle of the lagoon, this island was once an important city and seat of a bishopric but was progressively abandoned from the 10C onwards due to it silting up and malaria. While Venice bloomed into full glory, Torcello returned to a wild state..

Dressed in lamb skins, the men bang their mallets against a large bell every hour given to us by God. They are the two Moors of the Clock Tower with the imposing sun dial... In front of the Virgin and Child , on Ascension Day, there is a parade of m..

Also known as the Old Library and Sansovino Library, it was built by Sansovino across from the Palace of the Doges, starting from 1537. It is the first example of Classical architecture in Venice. A majestic staircase whose decoration symbolized the ..

A "bovolo" is a spiral, a good name for this half-Renaissance, half-Gothic staircase, which, in a tiny courtyard, flanks Contarini del Bovolo Palace, and leads to the loggias of the home. This structure is full of grace and lightness and is..

These streets (including Haberdashery St. Clock St., Saint Julian St. and Street of the Savior) stretching from the Rialto to Saint Mark, make up the oldest commercial area in Venice. This area never hardly ever slows down, and the shops are busy, ..

Established in 1868 by Count Giovanni Querini Stampalia, the foundation has a library, temporary exhibition space, an auditorium and a museum. Retaining its 17C-18C ambience, the residential part has a collection of Venetian pictures from the 14C to ..

This understated square has since 1792 been the site of one of the world’s leading opera houses. Burnt down in 1996, its two façades and entrances (one giving directly onto a canal) are again standing. Whilst updating the theatre (recital and chamber..

An extremely elegant facade made with polychrome marble: on the right bank of the Grand Canal, this little 15C palace is truly a jewel... though apparently somewhat poisonous, as its various owners seem to have had a tendency to die a violent death!

Its sophisticated architectural design and splendid polychrome marble decoration indicate that this church draws inspiration from 15C Tuscan examples. Built by Pietro Lombardo between 1481 and 1489, it is one of the earliest and best examples of Rena..

The leaning bell tower, that was victim to a landslide, like many other towers in Venice, is not the only attraction at this Gothic church: a beautiful portal (15th C.) by Bartolomeo Bon , leads to the three naves covered by an exposed underframe sh..