Venice

Travel Poster from the 1920s

Venice, for five hundred years 'the Serene Republic' and today the pride of modern Italy, is one of the most romantic and best-loved cities in the world. However, because of this, visiting Venice is fraught with visitor overcrowding. Of course for a first time visit it is essential to see the main sights, but to be pre-armed with some little gems of information can make this so much more fulfilling than just looking at the wonderful sites around you. 

St Marks Square - did you know that St. Mark's relics lie in the Basilica di San Marco? What is interesting is how he came to be there. Of all the objects taken to embellish this jackdaw's nest of a basilica, none is more spectacular than the first, the body of St. Mark the evangelist. Lifted from his tomb in Alexandria, he was smuggled past Muslim customs officials in a basket marked 'PORK', a safe passage to Venice was assured.
The front of the cathedral originally had very little ornamentation, but now displays a cornucopia of objects brought back to Venice by the conquering Venetians. The Venetians were great looters rather than destroyers.

The Four Bronze Horses - the quadriga

The only quadriga to survive from classical times, they were removed from the Hippodrome in Constantinople by the Venetians in 1204. What you see today are copies; the originals shelter from pollution in the Museo Marciano.

The Tetrarchs

The Tetrarchs are situated on the right hand side of the cathedral. Venetians like to believe that these were 4 foreigners turned to stone for trying to steal from the treasury. In fact, the Venetians also removed these from Constantinople. They represent the Emperor Diocletian and his three co-rulers, and were carved in Egypt in the 4th century.

On the same side as the Tetrarchs is a Byzantine Madonna. Black candles used to be lit on either side of her to comfort those about to be executed in the piazzetta.

The three large domes on the cathedral are not quite what they appear to be. They look substantial but are in fact a simple wooden construction overlaid with lead tiles giving a false impression of size and hiding comparatively small domes beneath.

Canalazzo

Canalazzo is what the Venetians call the Grand Canal.  During the Republic there was only one palazzo in Venice, the Palazzo Ducale. Every other house, no matter how grand, was a Ca' short for casa. Today most of the fine waterfront houses belong to embassies from around the world, museums, and art galleries. Many of the houses are steeped in stories and have interesting tales from the past to recount. 

Ca' d'Oro - This is the one Venetian house named, not after it's owner, but after the gold leaf which was lavished on the marble tracery with the facade being painted in vermilion and ultramarine. Can you imagine how wonderful this house must have looked sparkling in the sunlight?

Ponte di Rialto - The first bridge across the rialto was destroyed in the Tiepolo uprising. The second collapsed under the weight of spectators viewing the wedding procession of the Marchioness of Ferrara. The third, a wooden drawbridge, is depicted in a painting by Vittore Carpaccio. In 1524 a competition was called for a stone bridge. Michelangelo, Sansovino and Palladio all submitted designs, but the public debt prevented any work for sixty years, by which time they were all dead. The present bridge opened in 1592, to the design of the appropriately named Antonio da Pontė. The cost of the work was recouped by a toll.

The Bridge of Sighs, so called by Lord Byron in the 19th century. The suggestion is that prisoners would sigh as they looked through the grill windows at their final view of beautiful Venice, before being taken down to their cells in the building on the righthand side to be either incarcerated or executed. In the distance can be seen Ponte della Paglia.

Ponte della Paglia - Barges loaded with straw (paglia) used to moor here.

A post impressionist painting of Ponte della Paglia done in 1899 by Maurice Prendergast - The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

All images courtesy of wikipedia and wikipaintings