Cą d'oro and other Venice, Italy Things to Do Tips

An unusually beatiful example of typical 15th century Gothic design, with its fanciful architectual motives, wealth of marbles and the splendour of its gold and colour, now all disappeared, which drew insperation from eastern rather than from northern art.
It is probable that, in the original idea, begining with the traditional type of Venitian palace, the whole building should have been made with a central body flanked by two smaller side pieces, but only the right side was built, through lack of space.
It was constructed between 1421 and 1440, by Marin Contarini, on the site of a previous house, that once belonged to the Zeno family. This explains why some of the Veneto-byzantine style ornaments belong to the 13th century.
The work of this splendid architectual creation, crowned with a typical happily planned crenellation, was carried out by the Lombard and Venetian stone-masons, supervised by Matteo Raverti and the Bons.
Today, minus the additions and irreverent transformations of the architect Meduna (middle of the 19th century) and with the little "Saracen" windows of the mezzanine floor, and the top frieze, it has re-aquired all the harmony of its original aspect.
It became the property of the State as the result of a munificent gift on the part of Baron Giorgio Franchetti.

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Phone: (+39)0415238790
Address: Calle Cą D'Oro (Strada Nuova), 3922 CAnareggio
Directions: Actv route: n. 1 - fermata/stop Ca'D'Oro
Mondays 8.15am-2pm. From Tuesday to Sunday 8.15am-7.15pm.
Last entrance 30 min. before closing time.
Closed 25 December, 1 January and 1 May
Admission: € 5 reduction € 2.50
Website: www.cadoro.org

The campanile (steeple) of Venice is visited every day from a huge quantity of tourists that want to apperciate the fantastic view there.
From up there you can easily see all the city and the islands

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Phone: (+39)0415224064
Address: Piazza San Marco
Directions: Actv route: N.1/82 fermata/stop San Marco
From November to March 9.30am-4.15pm
From April to June and from September to October 9am-7.pm
July and August 9am-9pm.
Admission: € 6 reduction € 3

St Mark’s Basilica, a superb example of the Romanesque-Byzantine style with five cupolas, was built (10thC) to house the body of the St Mark the Evangelist.
The facade features five portals decorated in splendid marbles and mosaics, and with a terrace dividing it into two halves.
On the terrace stand Four Horses of gilded copper (copies - the originals are now preserved inside) that were sent from Constantinople to Doge Enrico Dandolo in 1204.
Splendid mosaics in the atrium relate the stories of the Bible.
The imposing interior in the form of a Greek cross contains a wealth of paintings and sculptures.
Of particular interest are mosaics of Veneto-Byzantine origin, some of them reconstructed from drawings by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.
The Bell Tower adjacent to the basilica was once a lighthouse for ships. At the foot of the tower is a 16th century loggia by J. Sansovino.

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Phone: (+39)0415225205
Address: Piazza S.Marco, 1
Directions: Actv route: N. 1, 82, 42, 52 fermata/stop S. Zaccaria
From October to April, from Monday to Saturday: 9.45am-4.30pm
From May to September 9.45am to 4pm
Sunday and Holidays: 2pm-4pm

Fort S. Andrea, or Castelnuovo, was built during the first half of the XVIth century, incorporating the only part that remained of a previously fortified constructon, its old central stronghold, which characteries the fort today.
Fort S. Andrea was the work of the architect Michele Sanmicheli, form Verona, who designed a number of civil and military buildings throughout the Venetian Republic, which are still well-known today.
It stands on a sandy strech of land in front of the mouth of Lido harbour, the main entrance from the sea to the lagoon and to the city of Venice.
the siting of its cannons near the waterside made the intrusion of any enemy ships into the city almost impossible, and it was also reinforced by its close made link with Fort S. Nicolņ overlooking it. the latter, was also built in the XVIth Century, on the previous site of Castelvecchio, a mediaeval building of which no trace remains.
Because of its important strategic position at the entrance to the lagoon, the fort was planned and constructed with a combination of tecnical-military features - which remained valid for more than three centuries - and impressive aesthetic features.
This latter aspect was related to questions of political order linked to the prestigious public image that the Venetian Republicwanted to promote of itself.
This led it construct the majestic portal at the front, which still appears impressive to present day visitors.

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Phone: +39.3683206846
Address: Isola di Sant'Andrea
Directions: Actv route: Vaporetto n. 13 da/from Fondamente Nuove

For visiting booking required

At present used as the premises of the faculties of the University of Venice, the palace is the lagoon city’s best example of late Gothic architecture: the large courtyard surrounded by a crenellated wall once featured a characteristic open stairway, demolished in the 18th century.

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Address: Calle Foscari, 3246

One of Venice's prime examples from the last transition period of the Gothic era, (c.1474)this was once the home of the Patriarch of Castello (1432), the Blessed Lorenzo Giustiniani. In the 16th Century additions and restorations to the faēade were made. Inside there still remains some of the 17th century decorations. It is now the property of the Municipality and the premises of the Municipal Offices and "La Biennale" of Venice.

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Address: San Marco, 1364
Directions: Actv route: Vaporetto n°1/82 fermata/stop San Marco

A monumental building, built in late 17th and begining of 18th century, by the venetian noble family of Zenobio; it was built in 1690 by architect Gaspari, Longhena' s pupil. In 1850 it became the seat of Collegio dei Padri Armeni Mechitaristi di S. Lazzaro.

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Address: Dorsoduro 2596 Carmini

According to tradition the Arsenal of Venice was founded in 1104; it has been enlarged over the centuries, coming to occupy a large part of the northeast area of the city.
The term Arsenale is a corruption of the Arab word darsina’a - a house of industry - and for centuries it was the largest in the world with over 16.000 employees at its peak when there were hundreds of galley ships in its basins, ready for war.
On the wall to the right of the entranceway is a bust depicting Dante Alighieri, recalling a visit the poet made to Venice in 1321. Still mainly closed to tourism, the Arsenale is sometimes used for notably important exhibitions and trade fairs.

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Phone: 0412709546
Address: Fondamenta di Fronte Castello

Built in the 16th century to celebrate the city’s liberation from a terrible plague, the Church of the Redeemer is one of the major examples of Palladio’s religious architecture.
The simple but imposing interior in the form of Latin cross contains admirable works by Jacopo Tintoretto, A. Vivarini, and Paolo Veronese.

In the summer of 1575 a terrible plague epidemic broke out in Venice which would bring 50,000 deaths over the following two years, almost one Venetian in three. In September 1576, when the plague seemed invincible against all human efforts, the Senate pleaded for divine help, voting to raise a new church dedicated to the Saviour (“il Redentore”). After rapidly choosing, from amongst various options, the form, situation and an architect to whom to entrust its construction, the foundation stone of Palladio’s project was laid in May of 1577. The following 20th July the end of the plague was celebrated with a procession to the site of the church across a pontoon bridge, beginning a tradition which survives until this day.

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Phone: (+39)0412750462
Address: Campo del SS. Redentore, 195 Giudecca
Directions: Actv route: N. 82 fermata/stop Redentore

Monday-Saturday: 10am-5pm, Sunday:1pm-5pm
6 January open from 1pm to 5pm
Closed on 25 December, 1 January, Easter and 15 August. Closed on Sunday in July and August
Admission: € 2.50
Website: www.chorusvenezia.org

Completed in the 16thC, this stone bridge on wood piling was built to replace a wooden bridge and an earlier pontoon bridge that once was the only link between the two banks of the Grand Canal.
The shops lining the central passageway make it particularly picturesque.

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Address: Ruga degli Orefici (Rialto) San Polo