St. Mark’s Basilica

Certainly Venice’s best-known church, and one of the most easily recognized in the world, St. Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco) was originally the Doge’s private chapel, decorated with Byzantine art treasures that are part of the booty brought back by Venetian ships after the fall of Constantinople. The gold-backed mosaic pictures above the doorways on the façade only hint at the mosaic artistry inside, where 4,240 square meters of gold mosaics cover the domes and walls.

St. Mark’s Square

The vast expanse of Venice’s largest square is brought together and made to seem almost intimate by the elegant uniformity of its architecture on three sides. But more than its architectural grace, St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) is loved as Venice’s living room, the place everybody gathers, strolls, drinks coffee, stops to chat, meets friends and tour guides, or just passes through on the way to work or play. Three sides are framed in arcades, beneath which are fashionable shops and even more fashionable cafés.

Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) and Bridge of Sighs

Visitors arriving in Venice once stepped ashore under the façade of this extraordinary palace. They couldn’t have failed to be impressed, both by its size and the finesse of its architecture. If they were received inside by the Doges, the impression would only strengthen as they entered through the Porta della Carta, a perfect example of Venetian Gothic at its height, and ascended the monumental Scala dei Giganti and the gold vaulted Scala d’Oro to be received in what many consider to be the palace’s most beautiful chamber, Sala del Collegio. Even jaded 21st-century travelers gasp in awe at the palace’s grandeur and lavish decoration.

Canale Grande (Grand Canal)

Sweeping through the heart of Venice in a giant reverse S curve, the Grand Canal is the principal boulevard through the city, connecting Piazza San Marco, Rialto Bridge, and the arrival points of the rail station and bridge from the mainland. Only four bridges cross its 3.8-kilometer length, but stripped-down gondolas called traghetti shuttle back and forth at several points between bridges. The Grand Canal was the address of choice for anyone who claimed any influence in Venice.

Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) and San Polo

Once the only bridge across the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge marks the spot of the island’s first settlement, called Rivus Altus (high bank). Built in 1588, some 150 years after the collapse of a previous wooden bridge, this stone arch supports two busy streets and a double set of shops. Along with serving as a busy crossing point midway along the canal, it is a favorite vantage point for tourists taking – or posing for – photos, and for watching the assortment of boats always passing under it.

Scuola Grande di San Rocco

This impressive white marble building was built between 1515 and 1560 to house a charitable society dedicated to San Rocco. Soon after its completion, the great 16th-century Venetian artist Tintoretto won the competition to paint a central panel for the ceiling of the Sala dell’Albergo by entering the building and putting his painting in its intended place before the judging, much to the irritation of his rival artists. He later decorated its walls and ceilings with a complete cycle of paintings, which are considered to be the artist’s masterpiece.

Ca’ d’Oro

The delicate marble filigree by Bartolomeo Bon seems too lace-like to be carved of stone, and you can only imagine the impression this façade must have made covered in its original paint and gold. Along with the Porta della Carta in the Palazzo Ducale, also created by Bartolomeo Bon, this is considered the most perfect example of Venetian Gothic. You can admire the interior, too, as this palazzo is now an art museum, restored to provide both a setting for the art works and a look at the way wealthy Venetians lived in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Murano and Burano

A trip to Venice wouldn’t be complete without hopping aboard a vaporetto for the ride across the lagoon to Murano, home of Venice’s fabled glass workers. The church of Santi Maria e Donato combines Veneto-Byzantine and Early Romanesque features, a result of its various stages of building between the seventh and 12th centuries. Notice especially the columns of Greek marble with Veneto-Byzantine capitals, the 12th-century mosaic floor with animal figures, and the St. Donato above the first altar on the left. Dated 1310, it is the earliest example of Venetian painting. The 14th-century San Pietro Martire contains several splendid Venetian paintings: Bellini’s Madonna in Majesty with St. Mark and the Doge Agostino Barbarigo and his Assumption of the Virgin, along with St. Jerome in the Wilderness and St. Agatha in Prison by Paolo Veronese. It’s a quick hop to the next island, Burano, a fishing village of brilliantly painted houses, known historically for its lace making. The Scuola dei Merletti (lace school) and its small museum will help you distinguish the real thing from the cheap imports you’ll find in shops.

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

This Gothic church was begun by the Franciscans about 1340 and finished with the completion of the facade, interior, and two chapels in the middle of the 15th century. Its impressive 14th-century campanile is the second highest in the city. Although the interior is in keeping with the simple unadorned style of Franciscan churches, it contains a wealth of artistic treasures. In the right transept is an important wood statue of St. John the Baptist by Florentine sculptor Donatello, done in 1451 (first chapel to the right of the sanctuary). In the sacristy is a triptych Madonna and Child Enthroned with Four Saints by Giovanni Bellini. In the left transept, the statue of St. John the Baptist on the stoup of the Cappella Cornaro was created by the sculptor and master-builder Jacopo Sansovino

Santa Maria dei Miracoli

After the vast grandeur of St. Mark’s and the soaring expanse of Frari, little Santa Maria dei Miracoli is like a fresh breeze, a masterpiece of Early Renaissance architecture by Pietro Lombardo. This jewel box of pastel inlaid marble was built from 1481 to 1489 to enshrine a miraculous picture of the Virgin. Unlike Venice’s other churches whose facades are embellished with architectural flourishes and statues, Lombardo used painstakingly matched colored marble to create delicate patterns of rosettes, circles, octagons, and crosses on the facade.

Palazzo Rezzonico Alice Barigelli

Just as Ca’ d’Oro lets you glimpse into the life of the late Middle Ages, Palazzo Rezzonico gives a vivid picture of life here in the Baroque and Rococo periods, in the 18th century. Designed and begun by Venice’s master of Baroque architecture, Baldassare Longhena, the palace was completed nearly 100 years later in 1750 by Giorgio Massari. The furnishings and collections complete the picture painted by the building, including its interior decoration of silk wall-coverings, elegant finish details, and Flemish tapestries. The costume collection highlights the importance of silk production in Venice from the late middle ages through the 18th century, when it was a major competitor with Lyon, France.

Torcello Island

Venice began on this outer island of Torcello, founded here as early as the seventh century, and by the 12th century, it was a flourishing commercial town. Of its palaces, churches, shipyards, and docks, only two churches and a handful of houses remain, dotted over the large island. You can get some idea of the importance of Torcello from its cathedral, dedicated in 639 to Santa Maria Assunta. It is considered the best remaining example of Venetian-Byzantine architecture. It was reconstructed in 834 and 1008, and the portico and two lateral apses were added in the ninth century; much of the building dates from the 11th century. The mosaics lining the interior are outstanding.