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Palazzo Ducale
Welcome to the command centre of the Venetian Republic. The Doge's Palace, a rare example of civil Venetian Gothic, was home to the doge (duke) and all arms of government, including prisons, for much of the thousand or so years of the Republic. Two magnificent Gothic facades in white Istrian stone and pink Veronese marble face Piazzetta San Marco.
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Palazzo Franchetti
The 16th-century mansion, home to a private bank from 1922 to 1999, is now owned by the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Veneto Institute of the Sciences, Letters and Arts, founded by the Austrians in 1838), which has an impressive programme of expositions here.
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Palazzo Labia
Now the Venice office of the RAI, Italy's national radio and TV organisation, this was once a grand 17th-century family residence. It boasts several frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo, but you must phone to arrange a visit (when open).
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Palazzo Zenobio
This grand baroque structure has housed the Collegio Armeno dei Padri Mechitaristi (Armenian College of Mechitarist Fathers) since the mid-19th century. The structure is the handiwork of Antonio Gaspari, but apart from the grand curved tympanum, the exterior of the building tells you little. To behold the Sala della Musica (Music Room), also called the Sala dei Specchi (Hall of Mirrors) is to witness Gaspari's voluptuous décor at its bubbly baroque extreme.
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Ponte Dell'accademia
Built in 1934 to replace its 1854 iron predecessor, the last of the Grand Canal bridges was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. That seems to have been forgotten, and the municipality is forever having to patch this timber job up. From the middle, the views in both directions along the Grand Canal are spellbinding.
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Ponte Di Calatrava
The Spanish architect's daring, luminous design for Venice's fourth pedestrian bridge, linking the train station with Piazzale Roma, is a fantasy of glass, stone and steel. It has also been an incredible cock-up. Subject of controversy from the beginning (why a bridge so close to the Ponte dei Scalzi?), the idea was born in 1996 and the bridge should have been in place by 2002.
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Rialto
Rivoalto (later contracted to Rialto), the highest spot in the collection of islets that formed the nucleus of the lagoon city, was one of the areas of first settlement - although the more active part was initially on the San Marco side of the bridge. The San Polo side slowly gained the ascendance and became the centre of trade and banking for the Republic. This is where dosh traded hands, voyages were bankrolled, insurance was arranged and news (or gossip) was exchanged.
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San Giorgio Maggiore
On the island of the same name, Palladio's Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore has one of the most prominent positions in Venice and, although it inspired mixed reactions among the architect's contemporaries, it had a significant influence on Renaissance architecture.
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St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's is one of the most spectacular houses of worship in the world, attesting to the Venetian Republic's former maritime and commercial might. Adorned with an incredible array of plundered treasures, it is a seething mass of domes and arches. The dress code requires knees, shoulders and upper arms be covered.
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St Mark's Square
Napoleon dubbed it the 'finest drawing room in Europe', and visitors and pigeons alike have been flocking here for centuries to strut and crow. There is a constant carnival atmosphere thanks to the cacophony of duelling cafe orchestras, cooing pigeons, and constant traffic of waiters serving alfresco diners.
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Statue Of Bartolomeo Colleoni
Presiding over the grand canalside square is the proud equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, a self-indulgent mercenary who from 1448 commanded armies for the Republic. It is one of only two such works in the city, a magnificent piece by the Florentine Verrocchio (1435-88). Although Colleoni was of the military school that preferred to live to fight another day, he remained faithful to La Serenissima.
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Torre Dell'orologio
The Clock Tower, an early-Renaissance gem built by Mauro Codussi on the north flank of Piazza San Marco, is a fitting timepiece for the grand square. The clock work was considered such a work of genius that it is said its designer (from the region of Emilia) was blinded to prevent him repeating the feat anywhere else! Unlikely, as he and his family moved in to look after maintenance. Their descendents only moved out of the tower in 1996!
