Must See Venice Sights and Tourist Attractions
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Venice’s main waterway is the Grand Canal, which splits the city into half with sestieri in equal parts to the west and east of it. On board a ferry one can explore the architectural splendour of the Renaissance buildings and their façades, which encircle the Canal and testify the welfare of the Republic of Venice, one of the most dominating mercantile sea powers in history.
Among the 170 buildings built from the 13th to the 17th Century, one can see the Gothic building ’House of Gold’ (Ca d’Ora), Palazzo Corner-Spinelli and Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, which combine classical and Byzantine elements, Palazzo Grimani di San Luca, Palazzo Vernier dei Leoni, which hosts the Guggenheim collection, and many others.
The Rialto is the place where the first bridge over the Grand Canal was built. The original wooden bridge collapsed and it was replaced in 1588 by the single stone arch designed by Antonio da Ponte. It is the most important crossing place on the Canal and it is visited by locals, unlike the other tourist bridges, also there are many souvenir shops and a fruit, vegetable and fish market.
St Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) is the only square and the nucleus of Venice. It is connected to Rialto through the Mercerie, the main throughway, the heart of the city’s commercial trade since ancient times, which cut the old city centre into two parts.
The first citadel the Palazzo Ducale and church the Basilica di San Marco were erected on St. Mark’s square’s stony foundations. The Basilica di San Marco is a unique juxtaposition of Byzantine, western European and Islamic architectural styles. The Bell of San Marco (the Campanile), stands in front of the Basilica. Since it’s a symbol of the city and the tallest building, there are always queues to ascend it.
Elegant cafes and designer shops line the streets that radiate from the square. In Venice, traditional pubs, called “Bacari”, serve little portions of food called “Cicchetti”, like hard boiled eggs, “Sarde in Saor”, “Trippa”, fried “Baccala’, “Acciughette”, and “Folpetti” (baby boiled octopus), served with “Spritz”, a cocktail must in Venice prepared with ice, a slice of lemon, and a mix of dry white wine, Aperol or Campari, and soda.
Beyond the square there is the triumphal Torre dell’Orologio and the Procuratie Vecchia and Nuova, which houses the Museo Correr, the Archaeological Museum and the Museo del Risorgimento.
The The Bridge of Sighs connects the Palazzo Ducale, where prisoners were tried, to the prisons known as the Piombi. It was decorated on the outside with Baroque patterns. The beauty of the structure has given the bridge a romantic connotation and the sighs that it inspired once from the prisoners sentenced to jail, have been replaced by the sighs from people in love.
The most famous and beautiful Churches in Venice are probably Santa Maria della Salute (curvy shaped, completed in 1681) and Church of the Santissimo Redentore (Renaissance, built in 1577-1592).
Scala Contarini del Bovolo is an interesting 15th Century building characterized by an external spiral staircase with an abundance of arches.
The island of Murano is worth a visit because it is where the glass has been made for more than 700 years and one can visit the workshops.
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