Worth seeing in Venice
Venice today is one of the most popular and most visited tourist cities in the world, which is proudly called one of the most beautiful, mysterious and incredibly romantic cities in the world.
Just as the Vatican in Italy is called the state in the state, the sights of Venice can be called many amazing architectural and historical monuments located inside one big attraction – a unique and one of a kind ancient city on the water.
Most of the quarters, architectural complexes and palaces are so picturesque and unusual that each of them could become a real tourist pearl for any city in Europe, but they are all located here. Therefore, you can see more than one hundred and ten unique natural and man-made monuments during one single trip to Venice – a big but incredibly interesting one.
Description of the sights of Venice, given their number and uniqueness, can be infinitely long, but we chose the five most beautiful, popular and just very interesting of them. Therefore, if you plan to go on vacation to Venice in the near future, our small sightseeing guide may be useful for you in planning your tourist route through this ancient city of love.
1. Piazza San Marco
St. Mark’s Square in Venice (St. Mark’s Square) is one of the city’s most famous sights on the water. Today, St. Mark’s Square consists of two zones: Piazza and Piazzetta.
Created at the beginning of the ninth century, it underwent changes several times, expanded, and by the end of the XII century it acquired almost the very shapes and sizes that we can see here now.
For many centuries, the residences of the leadership of the Venetian Republic and the highest church ranks were located here, many celebrations and festivals, including the famous Venice Carnival, took place on the famous square.
2. The Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
The miniature palace of Contarini del Bovolo, built in 1499, is one of the most beautiful pearls of Venice. The architectural complex is located in a secluded part of the city near another popular attraction – the Rialto Bridge.
The main feature of the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is a unique spiral staircase with openwork colonnade, entwining around the high tower of the palace. The refined combination of light and dark shades of cream walls with white arches and railings gives the palazzo special lightness and grace, so it can be safely called the most beautiful palace in Venice.
3. Academy Gallery
In the list of attractions of Venice, we also included the museum complex, which houses the world’s largest collection of paintings by Venetian craftsmen – the Academy Gallery.
The Gallery of the Academy of Venice, a unique art museum, dates back to the middle of the 18th century, when the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts was established by the Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Senate.
Fans of painting will certainly appreciate the magnificent expositions of paintings by Titian, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Lorenzo Lotto, Giorgione, Giovanni Bellini and many other great artists. Museum expositions are arranged in chronological order, but from time to time there are thematic exhibitions of painting.
4. Rialto Bridge
If you look at photographs of Venice and see a bridge on them, it is very likely that it is the Rialto Bridge, one of the city’s most beautiful and famous water bridges.
Ponte di Rialto until 1854 was the only bridge in Venice (not counting the wooden bridge Arsenale), connecting the banks of the Grand Canal. Initially, the Rialto Bridge was also built of wood, but due to several fires that completely destroyed this landmark, which was so useful for the inhabitants of medieval Venice, the structure was erected from stone, and it has survived to this day in this form.
5. Ca ‘d’Oro, or Palace of Santa Sofia
The Palazzo Santa Sofia, or, as it is also called, Ca ‘d’Oro, is one of the oldest and most beautiful palaces in Venice. At the time, this residence was erected by order of the Contarini family, and since its construction (XV century), the architectural ensemble has undergone a number of forced changes and rebuilding in connection with partial destruction from fires.
Many centuries ago, this palace, designed in the style of the Venetian Gothic, bore the name “Golden House” – its facade was decorated with gold leaf, painted with cinnabar and ultramarine, but to this day this rich decoration, unfortunately, has not been preserved.
In fact, these are not even all the main attractions of Venice – you can talk about them for a long time and very extensively. Doge’s and Lodgett’s Palace, San Giacometo Church and Café Florian, St. Mark’s Clock Tower and the Palace with Fondaco dei Turki Galleries are just a tiny part of Venice’s luxurious historical and architectural heritage, so the best way to get to know them is to visit Venice in person !
