Piazza San Marco and other Venice, Italy Things to Do Tips

In New York, every tourist has to visit Times Square. In London, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus vie for the visitor's attention. In Paris, the vacationer is expected to give at least a passing glance to the Place de la Concorde.

The equivalent tourist magnet in Venice is the Piazza San Marco, better known to Anglophones as St. Mark's Square. It differs from its foreign counterparts in two major respects: (1) It's more attractive, and (2) It hasn't been corrupted by the automobile.
Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal square of Venice, Italy.

A remark often attributed to Napoleon (but perhaps more correctly to Alfred de Musset) calls the Piazza San Marco "The drawing room of Europe". It is one of the few great urban spaces in a Europe where human voices prevail over the sounds of motorized traffic, which is confined to Venice's waterways. It is the only urban space called a piazza in Venice; the others, regardless of size, are called campi

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The columns marked the entrance to the city when the city could be reached only by Sea.
Shipped from Constantinople and erected by Nicolo Barattieri in 1172, these columns support two of the most important symbols of Venice. Atop one column is the bronze Winged Lion of Venice statue, a representation of the patron saint of the town, Saint Mark. A marble statue of Saint Theodore, the patron saint of Venice prior to the "relocation" of Saint Mark's relics to the city in the 9th-century, sits upon the other. These columns not only mark the entrance to the piazza, but also served as a criminal execution site until the 18th-century. To this day, some locals consider it bad luck to walk between the two columns

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Directions: The columns stand in the San Marco Piazzetta, toward the edge of the bacino, between the Doge's Palace and the Libreria on the other side

St Mark's Campanile is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, located in the square (piazza) of the same name. It is a recognizable symbol of the city.

The tower is 98.6 meters tall, and stands alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a plain brick shaft, 12 meters on a side and 50 meters tall, above which is the arched belfry, housing five bells. The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show walking lions and the female representation of Venice (la Giustizia: Justice). The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel. The campanile reached its present form in 1514. As it stands today, however, the tower is a reconstruction, completed in 1912 after the collapse of 1902.

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Saint Mark's Basilica (Italian: Basilica di San Marco a Venezia), the cathedral of Venice, is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It lies on St Mark's Square (in the San Marco sestiere or district) adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers, and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807 it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. For its opulent design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building was known by the nickname Chiesa d'Oro (Church of gold).

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The other tower in the Piazza, the Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower), was built between 1496 and 1506.

Legend relates that the makers of the clock slaved away for three years at their project, only to have their eyes put out so that they couldn’t repeat their engineering marvel for other patrons.

In fact the pair received a generous pension – presumably too dull an outcome for the city’s folklorists.

The tower’s roof terrace supports two bronze wild men known as “The Moors”, because of their dark patina. A protracted restoration of the Torre dell’Orologio is drawing to a close; when it’s over, it will be possible to climb up through the innards of the tower, to the terrace from which the Moors strike the hour.

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There are two important rules to remember about gondola rides in Venice:

1) If the price bothers you, don't do it.

2) If the price doesn't bother you, make sure you understood the gondolier correctly.
The city of Venice sets official rates for gondola rides, which started at €120 for 40 minutes the last time I checked. Additional 20-minute increments are €40. After 7 p.m., the base rate climbs to €100, with €50 for an additional 2 minutes. Up to six people can share a gondola.
This doesn't mean you'll actually pay 120 euros, or that you'll get a 40-minute ride. Depending on demand, gondoliers may regard the official rates as a polite fiction. Special services, such as singing, can boost the fare even more.
WE DID NOT TAKE THE GONDOLO RIDE.I thought it looked boring and a definite rip off for the price.Use the canal taxi boats far more interesting and you see much much more for about 6 euros!

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'Till thirteenth century Venice was built on a groups of islands separated by channels. To get on the other side were laid down wood boards connecting opposite sides of the channels. Later many bridges were built in Venice but no one of them joining the Gran Canal's banks.
This was a big problem for the Establishment so that population was always teasing him about this promise.
To solve this problem Serenissima's Establishment decided to call some of the best architects of that period:Andrea Palladio e Vincenzo Scamozzi.
Commom idea of both famous architects was to build a bridges with three big arches finishing in the central part of it with a kettledrum substained by huge columns. In spite of the great fame of both architects won a project by Antonio da Ponte who thought a unic arch bridge, 48 meters long and 22 meters wide, that was immediately distinguished by Palladio's majestic project.
The Rialto Bridge presents two shops lines included in the three stairs cutted by the central kettledrum substained by doric columns.
Foundation was started in 1588, and it took some years to finally join the opposite part of the Gran Canal and subsitute the previous wood bridge that many times collapsed before. To get an imagine of this previous bridge look at the famous painting by Carpaccio "Guarigione di un ossesso").

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Old Austrian bridge, on this part of Gran Canal, represented an age that was finishing.
In this period of deep transformation, project by engineer Eugenio Miozzi (1931-2) was chosen to subsitute the rectilinear iron bridge (all the iron bridges in Venice had been built by Austrians).
This bridge clearly borrows the main characteristics of Rialto bridge except for the shop lines, here absentees: one arch and made with white stone.
In this way, the bridge can dash free on the Gran Canal.

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Taking the vaporetto at San Marco landing stage, Accademia Bridge will be the first bridge on the Gran Canal.
During the nineteenth century, the bridge was different and made with iron.
In the first period of the twentieth century and the possibility to dispose of different technologies and materials, was announced a competition to build a new bridge in fron of Accademia Gallery.
Winner project by Torres and Briazza (1933) was never realized but as the bridge was essential in this part of the Gran Canal was built the actual bridge that should have been temporary.
Engineer Miozzi (who worked a lot in Venice during the first part of twentieth century), realized a structure that first was maded with wood and later was reinforced with steel loosing its main peculiarity.

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Venice's vaporetti (singular - vaporetto), or water buses, are the public transportation of Venice. Vaporetti take visitors along the main canals, to the islands, and around the lagoon. Although often crowded, they are by far the least expensive way to get around (other than walking). If you're visiting Venice, sooner or later you'll probably find yourself on a vaporetto.
In 2008 the single vaporetto fare is 6.50 euro (good for one hour from the time it's stamped) but if you plan to spend much time on the vaporetto system, it's wise to buy a travelcard that can be bought at any vaporetto ticket office.

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