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| City Guide - Venice - Key Attractions | ||
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Key Attractions Basilica di San Marco (St Mark's Basilica): St Mark's Square was memorably described by Napoleon as Europe's finest 'drawing room'. Here, the elegant eighteenth-century coffee houses, Florians and Caffe Quadri, spill their tables into the sunlight from the shadows of the Renaissance colonnades and peer at Europe's most unusual church, the golden Byzantine Basilica of St Mark's.The Basilica was founded in the ninth century as a shrine for the relics of St Mark, whose body was smuggled from Alexandria in a barrel of salted pork. Formerly a private chapel of the Doge, the church was completely rebuilt in the eleventh century, following a fire. Built on a plan of a Greek Cross, its Eastern appearance is enhanced by golden mosaics inside and out, originally by craftsmen from the Byzantine court at Ravenna. Unfortunately, these days, it is more than likely that some element of the façade will be undergoing restoration and it can be hard to imagine the church in all its oriental splendour. To see how the church appeared in 1260, visitors should take a look at the mosaic over the left portal; one of the oldest surviving mosaics on the façade. Also on the façade are copies of the four bronze horses seized from Constantine's Hippodrome at the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and one of the symbols of Venice. The originals are now displayed in the Museo Marciano inside the church. The interior, lit by the expanse of golden mosaics, houses many of Venice's greatest treasures. In the chapel north of the main altar is the venerated icon of the Madonna Nicopeia. Once worshipped by the Roman Emperors in Constantinople, she came to Venice in 1204 as their Madonna of Victory, whose blessing was vital for Venetian military campaigns. The golden screen behind the high altar - in whose crypt St Mark is supposed to be buried - is the Pala d'Oro. Decked with sapphires, emeralds and rubies and inset with enamels from Constantinople, it was ordered by Pietro Orseolo, the Doge who rebuilt the Basilica. Before leaving St Mark's, visitors should pause to admire the twelfth-century pavement, a resplendent mosaic of glass and marble. Now filled with uneven dips, it is a fitting witness to Venice's unique situation as the weight of its history threatens to submerge it below the waves. Piazza San Marco Tel: (041) 522 5205. Fax: (041) 520 8289. Web site: www.basilicasanmarco@tin.it Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 to San Zaccaria. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0945-1600 and Sun 1300-1600. Admission: L3000 (Pala D'Oro); L 4000 (Treasury). Palazzo Ducale (Doges' Palace): The Doges' Palace - once home of the elected leader of Venice, the Doge - as well as the city's political nerve centre, is a must for anyone interested in the history of Venice and its former Empire. A building seemingly too graceful for the dirty work of government, its pearly façade is best appreciated from the lagoon in whose milky light her rosy complexion blushes beguilingly. A merging of Islamic and Gothic styles, the façade dates from 1365. In contrast to the stern fortifications of the castle formerly on this site, the undefended colonnade and arcaded balcony are a testament to Venice's confidence and democratic outlook in the Middle Ages. The interior is more Renaissance in style, dating mainly to the sixteenth century, when Antonio da Ponte was employed to refurbish the Palace after the fire of 1577. The first floor is predominantly made up of the Ducal apartments, all but empty save some exemplary painting by Titian and Bellini. It is on the upper floors that the business of government took place and it here that Tintoretto and Veronese were commissioned to create new paintings to highlight the power and wealth of the republic. The Anticollegio, or waiting room, holds some the palace's best works -Tintoretto's Bacchus and Ariadne vies for attention with Veronese's Rape of Europa. Further on, the Sala del Collegio is dominated by Veronese's ceiling painting of Venice Triumphant above the throne. But it is the Chamber of the Great Council (Sala del Maggior Consiglio), the huge hall on the third floor, which spans the length of the façade overlooking the lagoon, that holds the Palace's most dramatic work. Tintoretto's Vision of Paradise, painted with the help of his son Domenico, is the largest oil painting in the world, with a cast of 500 figures. Tintoretto Junior is also responsible for the frieze of portraits of the first 76 Doges, made memorable by the blacked-out image of Marin Falier, the only Doge to ever attempt to overthrow the council and install himself as absolute ruler. Falier was beheaded for his pains, but his reputation lives on in this silhouetted image. Riva degli Schiavoni, San Marco Tel: (041) 522 4951. Fax: (041) 528 5028. Web site: www.comune.venezia.it/museicivici/ducale/duhome.htm Transport: Vaporetto 1, 6, 14, 41, 42, 51, 52 or 82. Opening hours: Nov-Mar daily 0900-1700; Apr-Oct daily 0900-1900. Admission: L18,000 (Biglietto Cumulativo). Rialto Bridge: Venice is historically centred on Rialto Island, whose name is derived from the Latin, rivus altus, meaning high bank. In the tenth century, a provisions market developed spontaneously on the adjacent island and so, in 1264, the first wooden bridge linking the two land masses was built. This wooden bridge ultimately collapsed in 1444 from the weight of crowds watching a wedding procession and it was replaced in 1588 by Antonio da Ponte's design for the single stone arched bridge, which beat off proposals by Palladio and Michelangelo. Da Ponte's bridge retained the covered shops of the original, today the haunt of tacky tourist traps and hawk-eyed goldsmiths, but once home to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Visitors may note how the bridge crosses the Grand Canal at an angle in order to align with the axis of the Ruga degli Orefici (Goldsmiths' Road). Until 1854, this was the only point at which the Grand Canal could be crossed on foot. Galleria dell'Accademia : Many of Venice's greatest paintings remain in the buildings for which they were created, but Venice's most important art gallery, the Accademia, is still worth a visit. Housed in the former church of Santa Maria della Carita and the adjoining Scuola, the collection first opened in 1750. Oils were the favourite medium of the Venetian masters. Frescoes, popular on the mainland, were unsuited to the damp salt climate of the lagoon and soon perished. Instead, oils painted on wood or canvas - long used in Northern Europe - were exploited to new limits, with the artists demonstrating an unusual sensitivity to colour and light, no doubt partly influenced by the play of light on the lagoon. The small paintings in rooms 4 and 5 are some of the finest in the collection. Giorgione's Tempesta, depicting a naked mother and child sheltering under a stormy sky against the ruins of an ancient city, is full of mystery. Little is documented about artist and the subject of the scene is unclear, but the interplay of dark and light convey a deep sense of drama. The larger canvases by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese in room 10 should also not be missed. Titian painted the Pieta for his own tomb, demonstrating his extraordinary ability to create light with his palette. Veronese's bawdy picture entitled Feast in the House of Levi was originally painted as The Last Supper, but the artist was forced to amend the subject after charges of indecorum. Visitors should allow time for room 21 to admire the drama and colour of the nine broad canvases in which Carpaccio has dramatically staged the Life of St Ursula. Dorsoduro 1050 Tel: (041) 522 2247. Fax: (041) 521 2709. Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82. Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0830-1930, Sun 0900-1900 and Mon 0900-1400. Admission: L12,000. Basilica dei Frari: The glorious Gothic church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, constructed around 1330, is primarily associated with the name of Titian, Venice's painter son whose is buried here, alongside the city's celebrated sculptor, Antonio Canova. Titian made his reputation and crowned his early years by painting the huge altar piece, The Assumption of the Virgin, for the Franciscan brothers of the Frari in 1518. The view through the choir screen and wooden choir to the high altar influenced Titian's choice of frame and composition. The best way to admire it is to walk slowly up the centre of the nave towards the altar. Titian also executed the painting over the Pesaro family altar in the north aisle. The inclusion of the flag and Turk in the painting alludes to Bishop Pesaro's victory over the Turks at Santa Maura. Titian's tomb in the south aisle faces the large marble pyramid created for Canova, depicting St Mark's lion paying homage to the dead sculptor. Ironically, the design, executed by Canova's pupils, was based on Canova's own plans for a new monument to Titian. San Polo 3003 Tel: (041) 522 2637. Fax: (041) 275 0578. E-mail: chorus@tin.it Web site: www.chorus-ve.org Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 to San Tomà. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800 and Sun 1300-1800. Admission: L3000. Scuola di San Rocco: The renown of the School of St Roch, one of the many lay fraternities established in Venice for charitable works, is the series of masterful canvases decorating its interior by Jacopo Tintoretto. Founded in 1478, the Scuola was dedicated to St Roch, following a particularly vicious outbreak of plague. Tintoretto won the commission to decorate the entire Scuola in 1564, and spent the next 23 years doing so, becoming a brother of the school. The ground floor holds a series of large canvasses depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin (1582-1587). In the upper hall, connected by Scarpagnino's staircase, are representations from the Old Testament on the ceiling and New Testament on the walls (1570-1581). Ruskin's greatest praise was reserved for the Sala dell'Albergo (1564-1567) where the chapter met. On entering the room, the visitor is confronted with the drama of Tintoretto's Crucifixion along the breadth of the opposite wall. Tintoretto manages to capture the painterly equivalent of tempo, rendering the darkened landscape busy with vignettes of activity while the divine halo around Christ's head, his face partly hidden as his head bows in death, dimly illuminates the scene. Campo San Rocco, San Polo 3052 Tel: (041) 523 4864. Fax (041) 524 2820. Web site: www.sanrocco.it Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 82 to San Tomà. Opening hours: Apr-Oct daily 0900-1730; Nov-Mar daily 1000-1600. Admission: L10,000. Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni: During the Middle Ages the large Dalmatian (schiavoni means 'Slav') population in Venice provided labourers for building ships in the Arsenal and sailors for Venetian fleets. Forming a charitable guild in 1451, they moved their seat to the School of St George in 1480, under the patronage of the Knights of Malta. Here, Vittore Carpaccio, himself of Istrian origin, painted a series of celebrated and brilliantly imaginative canvases between 1502 and 1508. Located in a dark hall on the ground floor since 1551, the canvases depict scenes from the lives of the guild's patron saints, St George, St Tryphone and St Jerome. Based on tales from The Golden Legend, they depict St George killing the dragon, St Jerome welcoming the lion into the monastery, the funeral of St Jerome, and the revelation of the death of St Jerome to St Augustine. Carpaccio's canvases demand attention through a combination of drama and extraordinary detail. Calle dei Furlani 3259/a, Castello Tel: (041) 522 8828. Fax: (041) 520 8446. Transport: Vaporetto 1 or 52 to San Zaccaria. Opening: Apr-Oct Tues-Sat 0930-1230 and 1530- 1830, Sun 0930-1230; Nov-Mar Tues-Sat 1000-1230 and 1500-1800, Sun 1000-1230. Admission: L5000. Peggy Guggenheim Collection: Peggy Guggenheim's collection of modern art is probably the most distinguished in Italy. The wealthy American heiress, a generous benefactor who helped promote Jackson Pollock, built up her collection between 1938 and 1947. Following the exhibition of the collection at the 1948 Venice Biennale, she bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, where she lived until her death in 1979, leaving her estate to the Solomon Guggenheim foundation. The collection spans Cubism, European Abstraction, Surrealism and early American Abstract Expressionism with works by a wide variety of artists, including Pollock, Picasso, Kandinsky and Dalí. The sculpture garden is particularly fine and enjoys lovely views over the Grand Canal. Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Dorsoduro Tel: (041) 240 5411. Fax: (041) 520 6885. Web site: www.guggenheim.org/venice/index.html Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1800. Admission: L12,000. |
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