What News from Rialto? (Othello) and other Venice, Italy Things to Do Tips

Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal

It is imperative upon the modern traveler to seek out every view of and every view from the Rialto Bridge. Forget that Michelangelo was rejected in his design for this span, the middle number of three bridges that cross the Grand Canal. Instead, look at the artist's work nearby, the sophistos in their dining costume at canalside restaurants, and of course wait your chance to photograph the gondoliers plying their craft on the supple waters near and beneath the bridge.

The view from here (specifically that looking eastward) provides one of the small handful of classic views in the city.

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Directions: midway between train station and St Mark's on the Grand Canal

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Gondolas: The Quintessence of Venetian Vistas

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

Santa Maria della Salute, from

Pzta. San Marco

Almost more than any other scene or building or vista in Venice, the canalside views of Santa Maria della Salute are among the most magical in a city full of magic. This great church is an early 17th century offering from the city to honor God and the Virgin Mary for stopping a plague that wiped out a third of the inhabitants. Whether you approach from the east or the west, the wonderfully towering cascade of domes is arguably the quintessential view of Venice.

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Directions: east end of Grand Canal

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Churches: In a Trance

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

gondolas and Santa Maria della

Salute

By necessity, you have to pass the church of Santa Maria della Salute on your way to the Piazza San Marco, but once off the traghetto or vaporetto at the Piazzetta San Marco, you'll find your views veering back to the church you just passed.

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Directions: east end of Grand Canal

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Bridges: Rialto - Midway to St Mark's

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

gondola below Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge is a cultural and social heart of Venice, but famous also as being an example where city planners rejected Michelangelo's designs for a competitor's. The bridge today is still filled with stalls and vendors and visitors. The gondolas of course are as common on the canals as pigeons in the squares. Scenes like that pictured have been played out here the past 500 years.

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Canal Grande: Customs Inspections

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

S. Giorgio Maggiore and the Punta

della Dogana

Just east of the Santa Maria della Salute is the Punta della Dogana, the former customs station for incoming vessels, now little more than a decorated extension of the islet marking the east entrance to the Grand Canal. In the distance on its eponymous island is San Giorgio Maggiore with its towering campanile. Add a customary gondola and again you have an ageless image of Venice.

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San Marco and Piazza: St Mark's - Venice's Greatest Cathedral

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

St Mark's from St Mark's Square

St Mark's has thankfully weathered the centuries in grand style. Neither time, nor the elements, nor the crucible of war has touched this great facade, though the Turks in the 15th century brought their cannon within site of its campanile. St Mark's is probably unique in Italy with its Eastern-influenced onion domes, and certainly stands alone in Venice in this particular. Though no pictures exist with which to compare, experts believe that St Mark's was closely copied from the Church of the Apostles in Constantinople, the burial vault for the Byzantine emperors (long since destroyed).

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San Marco and Piazza: Ancient Mosaics - St Mark's

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

mosaics within St Mark's

Photography is prohibited inside the church itself, to protect the delicate tiles in the mosaics that line the walls inside St Mark's. There is however no prohibition on taking photos from just outside the portals into the interior, which is swallowed in gold mosaic.

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Directions: east end of Grand Canal

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San Marco and Piazza: Balcony with a View

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

overlooking the Piazzetta San Marco

Get on the second level to get a better appreciation of the copies of four stallions that once decorated the Hippodrome in Constantinople. On the southern balcony, you can have someone take your portrait with the twin columns figuring in the background, surely one of the most recognizable perspectives in Venice.

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San Marco and Piazza: Say Piazzetta, not Piazza

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

twin columns and distant San

Giorgio Maggiore

The Piazzetta San Marco is actually the smaller square (as the name says) that leads from the Riva degli Schiavoni and its columns (of St Mark and the dragon) to the edge of St Mark's Cathedral. This is not to be confused with the grand Piazza San Marco beyond the cathedral, called by Byron the "greatest drawing room in Europe." Today the Piazza is filled with pigeons and tourists and in the wrong season a full meter of water. The piazzetta encompasses the better views, specifically Santa Maria della Salute to the southwest, and San Giorgio Maggiore to the southeast.

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Bridges: Bridge Between Life and Death

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Written by mrclay2000

on Feb 25, 2003

the Bridge of Sighs