The territory of Venice and its wonders

The monumental complex of the Gallerie dell'Accademia now occupies the prestigious seat of the Scuola Grande di Santa Maria della Carità, one of the oldest lay confraternities in the city. The church of Santa Maria and the monastery of the Canons Regular of the Lateran, designed by Andrea Palladio, are also an integral part of it. The museum houses the richest collection of Venetian and Veneto paintings, from the Byzantine and Gothic Trecento to Renaissance artists such as Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, and Titian, through to Giambattista Tiepolo and the 18th-century vedutisti, Canaletto, Guardi, Bellotto, and Longhi. These are artists who influenced the entire history of European painting.

The Rialto Bridge is one of four bridges, along with the Accademia Bridge, the Scalzi Bridge, and the Constitution Bridge, that cross the Grand Canal in the city of Venice. Of the four, the Rialto Bridge is the oldest and undoubtedly the most famous. The current single-span stone bridge, built by Andrea Da Ponte in collaboration with his nephew Antonio Contin, was completed in 1591 during the dogeship of Pasquale Cicogna. As for the design, Da Ponte was probably the coordinator, but Alvise Baldù and Vincenzo Scamozzi are also credited with it. The structure is very similar to the previous wooden bridge, a sign of the correct original concept. Two inclined ramps, with shops on either side, lead to a central section. The entire bridge is covered by a portico. The design was considered too bold by some from an engineering perspective, to the point that according to architect Vincenzo Scamozzi, the bridge would collapse. However, the bridge still stands today and has become one of the architectural symbols of Venice.

St Mark's Basilica is a unique monument for the richness of its history, the majesty of its facade and interior, a splendid workshop in which great Italian and European artists have worked for centuries. The Byzantine character that distinguishes it appears above all in the large mosaics that narrate the stories of Saint Mark, but also episodes from the Old and New Testaments. The grandeur of Venice has always been reflected in the enrichment of the Basilica: Venetians embellished it over the centuries, bringing precious artefacts and works of art from the most remote places, creating a monument of great compactness. The soft light that enters from above seems to divide the earthly world from the supernatural world shining in the vaults with its golden mosaics. The vastness of the artistic, iconographic, and religious content, and the multiplicity of historical aspects necessary for understanding the role played by the Basilica over the centuries, are presented here according to a precise division by subject and differentiated levels of detail.

The palace was built between the 14th and 15th centuries as the residence of the Contarini of San Paternian, who, from the end of the 15th century, were nicknamed “dal Bovolo” (of the spiral staircase) due to the addition of a spiral staircase. In 1499, Pietro Contarini (perhaps Pietro di Giovanni, father-in-law of Pietro Maria Del Bovolo, who in 1502 married Contarina Contarini), Marco Contarini and Giovanni Battista Contarini, senators of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, had a small Renaissance-style building added towards the inner courtyard, characterised by a series of open loggias with round or segmental arches. In 1717, the complex.

A benchmark in the international music scene, Interpreti Veneziani have reached their XXIV Concert Season in Venice, which attracts more than 60,000 spectators annually from all over the world. The great talent of the musicians who make up this ensemble allows them to interpret Baroque, Classical and Modern repertoire with virtuosity, engaging emotion and interpretative variety, keys to the success with audiences and critics achieved in all their concerts. Among their significant achievements are participation in the Melbourne Festival, the Bayreuth Festival, concerts at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, participation in a live global telethon at the Kirov Theatre for the rebirth of the name of the city of Saint Petersburg, a concert at Symphony Hall in Osaka broadcast live on Japanese radio, and concerts at Suntory Hall and Kjoi Hall in Tokyo. The United States, Japan, Canada, and Latin America feature annually in their calendar with concerts in the most prestigious halls. This year, they were the stars of a tour in South America, which included major theatres in Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, and Argentina, a tour of Brazil, and one of the USA. Next year, they will return to Japan, Australia, and Canada. The recording activity of the Interpreti Veneziani ensemble boasts the production of a first compact disc released by the Musikstrasse record label featuring music by Giuseppe Tartini, and 18 compact discs recorded with the In.Ve.Nice Sound record label.

Founded in 1792, the Teatro La Fenice was the venue in the 19th century for numerous world premieres of operas by Rossini (Tancredi, Sigismondo, Semiramide), Bellini (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Beatrice di Tenda), Donizetti (Belisario, Pia de’ Tolomei, Maria de Rudenz), and Verdi (Ernani, Attila, Rigoletto, La traviata, Simon Boccanegra). With a capacity of a thousand seats, excellent acoustics (further improved after the recent reconstruction following the devastating fire of 1996), resident orchestras and choirs of 98 and 66 members respectively, and a large international audience in addition to its regular local patrons, La Fenice remains a production centre of paramount importance, presenting over one hundred opera performances annually, an important symphonic season entrusted to conductors of international renown (we recall the frequent collaborations with Myung-Whun Chung, Riccardo Chailly, Jeffrey Tate, Vladimir Temirkanov, and Dmitrij Kitajenko, the complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, and the focus on contemporary repertoire, particularly from Venice, with Nono and Maderna), ballet performances, and chamber music concerts.

The Carlo Goldoni Theatre is the oldest theatre in Venice still in existence today and is the fourth oldest in absolute terms in the city, after the Michiel Theatre, the Tron Theatre (1581), and the San Moisè Theatre (1613). It was built by the Vendramin family in 1622, from whom it took its name. The theatre, also known as San Salvador and San Luca, was inaugurated in the autumn of that year with a performance by the “Gli Accesi” company, who were paid for their comedies immediately, even before they were read. The confidence in Goldoni's ability to compose successful and sure-to-be-popular works was almost unlimited. Precisely for this reason, his income had almost doubled, and of particular importance was the fact that he was free to print his works wherever he wished or with whichever publisher he preferred.

The traditional home of the Biennale's art exhibitions since its first edition in 1895, the Giardini (Gardens) are located towards the eastern edge of Venice. They were created by Napoleon in the early 19th century, after the destruction of a working-class neighbourhood that also included four churches and three convents. The Giardini house 29 foreign country pavilions as well as the Central Pavilion. Some of the pavilions in the Giardini were designed and built by famous architects. The Finnish pavilion is a prefabricated structure with a trapezoidal floor plan designed by Alvar Aalto, assembled in 1956 with parts that arrived from Finland. Built entirely of wood, it was only intended to last for a single Biennale. It was the success of the early editions of the Biennale (over 200,000 visitors in 1895, 250,000 in 1897, and over 300,000 in 1899) that led to the construction of the foreign pavilions in 1907. This move was motivated by logistical reasons, but also helped to reinforce the Biennale's international vocation.

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, commonly known simply as the Basilica dei Frari, is one of the churches in Venice and was granted the title of minor basilica in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. It is located in the square of the same name, Campo dei Frari, in the district of San Polo, and is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Works by Titian and Bellini can be admired there.

The Doge's Palace, formerly also known as the Ducal Palace as it was the seat of the doge, is one of the symbols of the city of Venice and a masterpiece of Venetian Gothic architecture. It is a building situated in the monumental area of St. Mark's Square, in the San Marco district, between the square of the same name and the Doge's Palace pier, adjoining St. Mark's Basilica.

The Ca’ d’Oro is an ancient noble residence from the 15th century. Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon built this building in 1442, commissioned by the Procurator of St Mark’s, Marino Contarini. This splendid Venetian palace is a good example of the style changing from Gothic to Renaissance. The marble tracery on the first and second floors, and the balustrades of the windows and balconies, clearly show late Gothic elements, while the colonnade facing the canal and small square windows on the right side, reveal Renaissance forms.

The Palace housing the Museum is an unfinished building, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, known specifically for this negative characteristic of being an “unfinished palace”. Construction began in 1748 but the palace was never completed. It was acquired at the end of 1948 by Peggy Guggenheim, who made it her home for the next thirty years and where she housed her rich collection of artworks, which she continued to add to during her travels around the world. Opened to the public in 1951, it boasts over 300 works, in addition to a small collection of pieces from Africa, Oceania, and other Eastern countries. The year after her death in 1979, and according to Peggy's wishes, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation opened the palace and its collection to the public.

The palace was built between the 14th and 15th centuries as the residence of the Contarini of San Paternian, who, from the end of the 15th century, were nicknamed “dal Bovolo” (of the spiral staircase) due to the addition of a spiral staircase. In 1499, Pietro Contarini (perhaps Pietro di Giovanni, father-in-law of Pietro Maria Del Bovolo, who in 1502 married Contarina Contarini), Marco Contarini and Giovanni Battista Contarini, senators of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, had a small Renaissance-style building added towards the inner courtyard, characterised by a series of open loggias with round or segmental arches. In 1717, the complex.

Palazzo Grassi is presented completely renovated, thanks to the refurbishment and restyling carried out under the supervision of François Pinault, President of Palazzo Grassi S.p.A., who entrusted Tadao Ando with the new interiors of the 18th-century palace. With his minimalist style, the celebrated Japanese architect has transformed the 3,000 square metres of space, creating an ideal environment for exhibiting modern and contemporary works of art.