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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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Telecom Future Centre
Set up in the 15th-century cloisters of the adjacent Chiesa di San Salvador, this interactive museum of the future shows us how we might communicate decades from now - a little science-fiction fantasy in the heart of the venerable historic city. See how we will spend countless hours creating MMMail personalities, personal TV shows on the web or converting written messages in to the artificially spoken word.
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Tesoro
The Tesoro, accessible from the right transept at the Basilica di San Marco, contains most of the booty from the 1204 raid on Constantinople, including a thorn said to be from the crown worn by Christ. Some extraordinary 10th- to 11th-century chalices, made of sardonyx, alabaster, glass and silver, figure among the most beautiful pieces, along with some stunning icons and a 14th-century reliquary box that belonged to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
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The Lido
The main draw here is the beach, but the water can be polluted and the public areas are often unkempt. Some of the beaches at the southern end of the island, such as those at Alberoni, are an exception. If you want to stay closer to the northern end of the island (and the vaporetto stops), you will pay a small fortune (up to €10 for a sun-lounger) to hire a chair and umbrella in the more easily accessible and cleaner areas of the beach.
The Lido became a fashionable seaside resort around the late 19th century and its more glorious days are depicted (in admittedly melancholy fashion) in Thomas Mann's novel Death in Venice.
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The Zattere
The Fondamenta delle Zattere runs the length of the south side of Dorsoduro along the Canale della Giudecca and unsurprisingly is a popular spot for a passeggiata (evening or Sunday stroll). There are many fascinating buildings along the length of the Zattare. The Ospedale degli Incurabili was put up in the 16th century, this was where incurable syphilus sufferers, who had a tendancy to end up quite potty, used to be parked.
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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!
