Europe Travel Guides

Points of interest

Ca' d'Oro

This magnificent 15th-century Gothic structure got its name (Golden House) from the gilding that once decorated the facade. The building now houses the Galleria Franchetti, an impressive collection of bronzes, tapestries and paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries. A big incentive for visiting is the panorama from the balconies over the Grand Canal.

The 1st floor of the museum is devoted mainly to religious painting, sculpture and bronzes. One of the first items you see is a polyptych recounting the martyrdom of St Bartholomew. Take a closer look at the detail. The violence is quite remarkable, as is the saintly indifference with which Bartholomew seems to accept his torment! Much of what you see on this floor is Venetian, but one room has been set aside principally for Tuscan art.

On the 2nd floor you can see a series of fragments of frescoes from the outside of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, an important German trading house that is now home to the central post office. All are by Titian except one - an exceptional nude by Giorgione. Also on this floor is a mixed collection, including works by Tintoretto, Titian, Carpaccio, Mantegna, Vivarini, Signorelli and van Eyck.

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St Mark's Basilica

St Mark's is one of the most spectacular houses of worship in the world, attesting to the Venetian Republic's former maritime and commercial might. Adorned with an incredible array of plundered treasures, it is a seething mass of domes and arches. The dress code requires knees, shoulders and upper arms be covered.

The basilica was modelled on Constantinople's Church of the Twelve Apostles and consecrated in 1094. It is famous for its golden mosaics, particularly those above the doorways in the facade and decorating the interior domes. If you can wrench your eyes away from their glitter, take time to admire the 12th-century marble pavement.

The basilica's many treasures include the gleaming Pala d'Oro altarpiece of gold, enamel and precious jewels. The Tesoro (Treasury) contains most of the booty from the 1204 raid on Constantinople, including a thorn said to have come from the crown worn by Christ.

On the loggia above the main door are copies of the delightful prancing horses that were also hijacked from Constantinople (the gilded-bronze originals are on display inside). The basilica's 10th-century campanile (bell tower) collapsed without warning on 14 July 1902, and was rebuilt brick by brick over the following 10 years. Take the lift to the top for some fabulous views over the rooftops and lagoon.

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Gallerie dell'Accademia

Long the official arbiter of artistic taste in Venice, the 'Academy' is home to the finest in Venetian old masters, a veritable feast of High Renaissance, baroque and rococo. Although the city is dotted by works of the greats, this one-stop starburst represents a single, intense lesson in the greatness of Venetian high art from the 14th to 18th centuries.

In Room 2, Carpaccio's altarpiece, Crocifissione e Apoteosi dei 10,000 Martiri del Monte Ararat (Crucifixion and Apotheosis of the 10,000 Martyrs of Mt Ararat), is an extraordinary study in massacre and martyrdom. You stroll past works by the Bellinis, Mantegna and Cima da Conegliano until you are stopped in your tracks in Room 5 by rare contributions from Giorgione: La Tempesta (The Storm) and La Vecchia (The Old Woman). Both are centuries ahead of their time, the latter, in particular, presaging 19th-century portraiture. Major works adorn Room 10 and Paolo Veronese's Convito in Casa di Levi (Feast in the House of Levi) is one of the highlights. Also on display is one of Titian's last works, his disturbing Pietà. Carpaccio's extraordinary series of nine paintings recounting the life of Santa Orsola, in Room 21, is the collection's last high point.

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Ca' Rezzonico - Museo del Settecento Veneziano

Poet Robert Browning, no doubt mesmerised by the Grand Canal views, drew his last breath in this Longhena-designed baroque mansion. Today it is a vast museum of 18th century art and furniture and design. Particularly noteworthy are the frescoes and rich furnishings in the Sala del Trono (Throne Room) and the Salone da Ballo (Ballroom).

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Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Eccentric millionaire art collector Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) called the unfinished Palazzo Venier dei Leoni home for 30 years. She left behind, apart from her cherished dogs buried with her in the sculpture garden, a collection representing most of the major art movements of the 20th century. Works by Picasso, Dali and Miro make this an essential visit.

The east wing houses early Cubist paintings including Picasso's The Poet (1911) and Pipe, Glass, Bottle of Vieux Marc (1914), Georges Braque's The Clarinet (1912) and many other greats of 20th-century art. Interesting works from Spain include Dalí's Birth of Liquid Desires (1932) and fellow Catalan Joan Miró's Seated Woman II (1939).

Among the many paintings of Max Ernst, Guggenheim's husband and doyen of Surrealism, is the disturbing Antipope (1942). Other names to look for include: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Paul Delvaux, Alexander Calder, Juan Gris, Kurt Schwitters, Paul Klee, Francis Bacon, Giorgio de Chirico, Piet Mondrian and Marc Chagall.

Out in the sculpture garden are several pieces by Henry Moore and Jean Arp. The rear of the mansion hosts a separate collection of Italian Futurists and other modern artists from the peninsula, including Giorgio Morandi, Giacomo Balla and one work by Amedeo Modigliani. The west wing hosts temporary exhibitions.

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Vecio Fritolin

A fritolin was traditionally a kind of fish-and-polenta takeaway. Here they have revived the tradition at lunch time. Better is to come for a classy evening meal, with a meticulous menu serving local and national dishes, home-baked bread and devilish desserts, all done with ingredients exclusively picked at the local Rialto markets.

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Lavena

Founded in 1750 and less celebrated than its big brothers (Florian and Quadri), Lavena is in the same vein. Wagner was among its more visible customers, but historically gondoliers and codegas (stout fellows who lit the way home for people returning at night) also hung out here.

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Caffè Florian

The plush interior of this, the city's best-known cafe, has seen the likes of Lord Byron and Henry James taking breakfast (separately) before they crossed the piazza to Caffè Quadri for lunch. Venetians started paying exorbitant sums for the pleasure of drinking here in 1720. To pay less, drink at the bar.

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Harry's Bar

As well as being a noted restaurant, Harry's is, first and foremost, a bar. Everyone who is anyone passing through Venice ends up here. Orson Welles, Truman Capote, the flotsam and jetsam of the euroset - you name 'em, Harry's had 'em propping up the bar at one stage or another.

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Margaret Duchamp

This is a highly popular spot to spritz on and chat until the early hours. It's set at a strategic angle and attracts a mix of locals, blow-ins, young wannabes, students and Biennale types with shades - you can't blame them as you get the afternoon sun shining straight through your cocktail glass.

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Al Bottegon (Cantina di Vini già Schiavi)

Wander into this fusty old wine bar for a glass of prosecco (light sparkling white wine) under the bar's low-slung rafters and wavering light provided by dodgy bulbs. Locals have been doing just that for many decades. An early closer but there's nothing stopping you from getting a takeaway.

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Events

Venice's public holidays include Liberation Day (25 April), Labour Day (1 May), the Feast of the Assumption (15 August), All Saints' Day (1 November), the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (8 December) and the Feast of Santo Stefano (26 December).

The year kicks off with the Regata delle Befana, the first of the lagoon city's 100-plus regattas, held on 6 January (Epiphany). The major event of the Venetian calendar is February's bewigged, bemasked and berobed Carnevale, the event that's spawned a million pastel postcards of pierrots and columbines looking unduly pensive. In May there's the Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension), when Venice celebrates the Sposalizio del Mar (Wedding with the Sea). The Biennale arts fest is held every odd-numbered year in June in the pavilions of the Giardini Pubblici. July's July's Festa del Redentore is the festival most celebrated by Venetians themselves, with a regatta and fireworks festival. The Venice International Film Festival, Italy's version of Cannes, is held annually from late August into September at the Palazzo della Mostra del Cinema on the Lido. The Regatta Storica in September is a historic gondola race along the Grand Canal that's well worth catching. November's Festa della Madonna della Salute procession crosses the Grand Canal via a pontoon bridge.

official holidays