Venice travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

A bridge that spans the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy is known as the The Rialto Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Rialto) and is a landmark in Venice and marks the center of the city. It is the oldest bridge across the canal and probably the most famous in the city. The bridge is located approximately half-way along the canal at the point where it makes a virtual 90 degree turn around the San Polo district.

This bridge, designed by Antonio da Ponte, was constructed between 1588 and 1591 and until the wooden Academia Bridge was constructed in 1854 the Rialto was the only link to the two sides of the Grand Canal by foot. The bridge possesses a single 24 foot arch. It comprises two covered platforms which join a central portico at a steep angle. The entire structure is supported by more than 12,000 wooden pilings. The bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice. The stunning Rialto Bridge has three walkways, two along the outside railings and a wider central walkway that leads between rows of small shops. From the outer walkways you have a beautiful view of the Grand Canal which is the ideal spot to take some photos and watch the tour boats go up and down the canal.

The center and most frequented part of the Venice is Saint Mark’s Square. Byron referred to St Mark’s Square as “the greatest drawing room in Europe” and Napoleon called it the finest square in Italy. At the eastern end are Saint Mark’s Cathedral and the Doges’ Palace (Palazzo Ducale) – two most important and imposing structures in Venice.

The first palace was built in 814 and was burned by the populace in 976. It was reconstructed, damaged by a second fire, and begun in its present form in the early 14th century. In 1424 the completion of this Venetian Gothic-style palace was undertaken, and the two identical facades… The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice and contained the offices of a number of political institutions, arranged around a central courtyard. The first floor was occupied by lawyers offices, the Chancellery, the Censors and the Naval Offices. Doge’s Palace or Palazzo Ducale first housed Doge Sebastiano Ziani. The original castle was destroyed in 976 during an uprising against Doge Pietro IV Candiano.

The new palace was enormously impressive. Huge walls of white limestone and pink marble were softened by porticos, finely wrought loggias, a crenellated roof and a series of balconies by Pier Paolo and Jacobello Dalle Masegne. The 36 capitals on the lower colonnade of the building have carvings of beasts, flowers and representations of the months of the year. Didactic moral sculptures represent scenes such as. The Palazzo Ducale is a superb example of Venetian Gothic architecture and even later vandalism didn’t spoil it. Work on the palace has barely stopped in the intervening centuries ( So as well as good medieval carvings you will see fine 19th century copies, and probably not be any the wiser.

The palace was a showplace for artistry, craftsmanship and architecture, and still exemplifies the splendour of Venetian Gothic style. As well as ruling the city state, the doges (a Venetian word from the Latin dux, meaning leader) were great patrons of the arts and the palace is filled with works by Venetian Renaissance masters such as Veronese and Tintoretto.

The Palace is the most representative symbol of Venice’s culture, which, together with the Basilica of San Marco at the back and the Piazza in the forefront, forms of the most famous sceneries in the world.

Padua is a walled city situated along the Bachiglione River, between Verona and Venice. This city is one of the cultural and economic centers in the Northeast of Italy. Padua is a pilgrimage city, millions of pilgrims come here every year to visit the “Basilica di Sant’Antonio”, where the grave of “Sant’Antonio” is preserved. The other reason to visit this city is Giotto. In Padua you will find the most complete collection of works by Giotto. Set amongst the historic Euganaean Hills, Padua boasts a picturesque network of arcaded streets, numerous bridges, and large communal plazas. The historical center has maintained its medieval system with the characteristic interlaces of decorticate alleys that open themselves in wide public squares. In the public squares is concentrated the life of the city: Palazzo della Ragione, Palazzo Moroni, center of the Town Hall, Caffè Pedrocchi, historical coffee bar between the most famous of Italy, the ancient Università del Bo, they are in the vicinities of the three more famous public squares of the city: Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza della Frutta and Piazza dei Signori. Not to leave for the art lovers, the cycle of frescoes, work of Giusto de Menabuoi inside the Battistero del Duomo.Scrovegni Chapel holds the most complete cycle of entirely preserved frescoes produced by Giotto(1302-1305). They have maintained all their marvellous beauty! Palazzo della Ragione was built in 1218 by the Commune of Padua as the seat of the Podestà and the Law Courts. The upper floor is occupied by a single hall of exceptional dimensions entirely frescoed with astrological and religious subjects. Basilica of S. Anthony called by the Paduans simply “Santo” is an imposing construction built in the 13th century in Romanesque-Gothic style, with eight domes and belfries of eastern inspiration. It contains the body of St. Anthony. There are works by famous artists from the 13th to the 20th century, including those of Altichiero, Giusto de’ Menabuoi and Donatello. Galileo taught in Padua from 1592 to 1610. His chair can be seen in the “Room of the Forty”. The famous Anatomy Theatre, where Vesalius taught, is the oldest in the world (1594).

The world’s first botanical garden was created in Padua. The botanical garden, Orto Botanico di Padova, was founded in 1545. “The Botanical Garden of Padua is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world, and represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture.” — inscription on UNESCO World Heritage List.

Frescoes by Titian can be seen at the Scuola di S. Antonio the Prato della Valle, a 90,000 m² elliptical square has a wide garden surrounded by a trench which is lined by 78 statues portraying famous citizens. Santa Sofia is probably Padova’s most ancient church, the crypt being initiated in the late 10th century by Venetian craftsmen.

Everyone knows Canals of Venice. Gondolas bobbing on the Grand Canal, and a picturesquely decaying city sinking slowly into the waters of the Lagoon. And yet Venice is a city of many surprises and delights for the visitor. The first one is that you will spend most of your time walking – the pavements play as major a role in the city as do the canals. The one thing you won’t see is cars, drivers have to leave their vehicles at the city gate, and that makes exploring this romantic, art-filled and utterly unique city very enjoyable. And though tourists crowd the city, most of them head straight for the Basilica di San Marco and the Doge’s Palace; a little trip off the beaten track yields huge rewards, as you nip down narrow alleys and find beautiful little churches, street markets and yet another canal before you.Hunters and fishermen were living on the mudflats of the Lagoon 2000 years ago, but Venice really grew as a place of refuge. The ravaging of Attila the Hun drove many to seek shelter here in the fifth century, and a century later the march of the Lombards into northern Italy saw more settle here. By now the city was ruled by Byzantium, but in 726 Venetians elected their own leader, the first Doge (or Duke).Our early work in the canals and lagoon of Venice was directed toward public health issues. In order to evaluate the degree of organic pollution in the area, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons and fecal sterols were analyzed in sediment and mussel samples (Mytilus galloprovincialis). Although the canals in Venice are at least partially flushed by tides, most canals still have mud bottoms which are ideal for preservation of chemical pollutants. Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination has been observed in essentially all areas except the Northern Adriatic. Highest hydrocarbon concentrations have been found near the industrial zone of Porto Marghera followed by decreasing concentrations in the Venetian canals and Veneto Lagoon. Based upon alkylated homolog distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fossil fuel combustion appears to be the major source of these hydrocarbons. Chlorinated hydrocarbons were present in a wide range of concentrations. The spatial distribution of these compounds (HCB, HCH, DDT and PCB) could be clearly correlated with local inputs. The fecal sterol, coprostanol, was analyzed to evaluate the accumulation dispersal of untreated waste from the city of Venice. Coprostanol “hotspots” gave indications of where health hazards may exist for local populations. All contaminants generally showed much higher concentrations in the interior canals of Venice, and lower concentrations in the outer edges of the city and Lagoon. This was clearly related to reduced tidal flushing in the interior canals. Mussels and sediments show similar trends in the contaminant distributions, however due to a variety of environmental stresses, mussels are completely absent from the interior canals where the highest contaminant levels have been observed. Accumulation studies have shown that over a period of 20 years the levels of petroleum contamination have decreased with time, due to reduction of industrial inputs resulting from increased environmental legislation, and to initiating an aggressive dredging program within the interior canals.In part one of the Grand Canal pages, I present several “panoramic” views. Not pictures of specific buildings, but pictures that try to express the variety of architecture, of form and color along the Grand Canal. For the most part, the view along the canal is little changed over the last several hundred years. The buildings, and the sweeping view of the canal are not much different now than they were 400 years ago, except for the boats and other trappings of modern life.

When To Go

It’s almost always high season in Venice, although the city is busiest in spring< (Easter-June) and Sept-Oct. Accommodation can be hard to find then, as well as around Christmas, New Year and Carnevale (February). Like Italy’s other great tourist hubs, Venice is at its worst in high summer (June-August): it’s crowded, oppressively hot and sticky. The most pleasant time of year to visit is late March into May, with clear spring days and comparatively fewer crowds. September is the next best in terms of weather, but October is quieter. Flooding occurs in November and December, and winter can be unpleasantly cold – although seeing Venice under snow can be the stuff of fairy tales.