Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the region of Veneto. It is built on a group of 126 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 472 bridges.
Since the fall of the Venetian republic in 1797, the city has held an unrivaled place in the Western imagination and has been endlessly described in prose and verse. The luminous spectacle of ornate marbled and frescoed palaces, bell towers, and domes reflected in the sparkling waters of the lagoon under a blue Adriatic sky has been painted, photographed, and filmed to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish the real city from its romantic representations. The visitor arriving in Venice is still transported into another world, one whose atmosphere and beauty remain incomparable.
It’s hard to find the right words to describe this majestic city, nothing like it in the world. We walked the streets of shops and apartments and hotels and cafes and felt as if we were in a maze and it was truly amazing. We’ll take you with us…
We meandered through the Rialto Market but it was still early and was just getting going.
Today Venice is recognized as part of the artistic and architectural patrimony of all humanity, a fitting role for a city whose thousand-year economic and political independence was sustained by its role in global trading. The situation of the city on islands has limited modern suburban spread beyond the historic centre; its framework of canals and narrow streets has prevented the intrusion of automobiles; and its unmatched wealth of fine buildings and monuments dating from the period of commercial dominance has ensured a keen and almost universal desire for sensitive conservation. This concern for conservation is now extended not just to the city’s monuments but to the very city itself, as rising water levels and subsidence of the land upon which Venice is built threaten the continued existence of the city in its present form. In 1987 Venice and its lagoon were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St Mark’s Campanile is the bell tower of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Built in 1513, the Campanile is also a reconstruction project that was completed in 1912, the previous tower having collapsed in 1902. At 98.6 metres 323 feet it is a sight to behold.
If you’re noticing a lot of churches in town that’s because the city grew by small ‘parish’s’ where each had its own square, water and church. Even today, addresses are by parish and house number for that parish. Glad I’m not the mailman!! 🙂
I don’t know if they still ring the bells, but I’m glad they didn’t while we were there! There were signs up saying don’t touch the bells, but…
After spending time up in the Campanile, we wandered around the square.
Luckily, there were some shaded walkways.
Around the corner of the square is the Bridge of Sighs. It was built around 1600, and connected the Doge’s Palace to the New Prisons. It and became famous for the “sighs” of prisoners glimpsing Venice one last time.
We went back to the square to meet Sally’s friend Siria and she took us to a wonderful lunch at a ‘local’ restaurant, Trattoria Antico Calice. We knew it would be good because there were a bunch of gondolier’s there having lunch!
After lunch we wandered around more shops, and we were planning to go to Paduva, but we spent over an hour in a crowd waiting to take one of the 10min water taxi’s back to the train station (we could have walked in half the time in the shaded alleyways!). We did find some beautiful Murano glass!
I’m leaning towards the taller ones:)
The temps were again in the high 90’s and with the crowds on the water taxi, it was close to 4pm when we arrived at the train station and we were pretty much done in. Ellen and I headed back to the hotel and Siria and Sally went on to Padova where Siria is attending college there, majoring in space engineering. 😵💫
