San Polo & Santa Croce
The influence of Palladio swirls around neoclassical St Eustace's Church (completed in 1709), from the dazzling white, statue-heavy facade facing the…
Must-see attractions in The Veneto
Venice
Sior Rioba, a gent in an outsized turban, has been hanging out at the corner of Campo dei Mori since the Middle Ages. The square's name is a misnomer, as…
Venice
Positioned at the top of the public gardens, this statue of Italian Unification hero Giuseppe Garibaldi has him commanding a mountain with a tame-looking…
Padua
When a 1944 bombing raid demolished the extraordinary 1448–57 frescoes by Andrea Mantegna in the Capella Overtari in the Chiesa degli Eremitani, the loss…
The Veneto
Italy’s great poet Petrarch (Petrarca) spent the last five years of his life in the medieval village of Arquà Petrarca, where you can visit his stone…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Take a pause from glass shopping to check out The Baptism of Christ, attributed to Tintoretto, in 16th-century St Peter the Martyr's Church. The parish…
Venice
Avant-garde Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s 2008 bridge over the Grand Canal has been called many things: a fish tail, a glass tongue, pleasingly…
Venice
This elegant 16th-century Gothic palazzo was the former home of industrialist and philanthropist Vittorio Cini, who filled it with first-class paintings,…
Vicenza
Designed by Lorenzo di Bologna, construction of Vicenza's cathedral began in the late 15th century. In the mid-16th century, Andrea Palladio added his own…
Venice
Founded in 829, San Zulian got a Sansovino makeover funded by physician Tomasso Rangone, who made his fortune by selling syphilis cures and secrets to…
Giudecca, Lido & the Southern Islands
Right at the southern tip of the island, the Alberoni pine forest slopes down to the Lido’s wildest stretch of beach, home to wildflowers, the fratino …
San Polo & Santa Croce
Designed by Giovanni Antonio Scalfarotto and completed in 1738, this domed neoclassical building was one of the last churches to be built in Venice. It's…
Venice
The right hand of John the Baptist was once housed in this church founded in the 9th century; however, the church burned in the 14th century, and what you…
The Veneto
At the southern reaches of the Colli Euganei (Euganean Hills), in the pocket-sized town of Monselice, lies this remarkable medieval castle. Its oldest…
Venice
Housed in the restored neoclassical Chiesa di San Maurizio, this collection of rare 17th- to 20th-century instruments is accompanied by informative panels…
Venice
The wooden Ponte dell’Accademia was built in 1933 as a temporary replacement for an 1854 iron bridge, but this span, arched like a cat’s back, remains a…
The Veneto
The eye-catching Scuola dei Battuti is covered inside and out with 16th-century frescoes by Ludovico Pozzoserrato. The building was once home to a…
Treviso
This unusual, soaring Gothic structure dates to the 13th and 14th centuries, although much of what you see today was rebuilt after devastating air strikes…
Venice
Designed by Sansovino, the neighbourhood church of St Martin has a Greek-cross-shaped interior lined with eight chapels and topped by a trompe l'œil…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Rubbed for luck for centuries, this 1541 statue is now protected by an iron railing. Il Gobbo (The Hunchback) served as a podium for official…
Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario
San Polo & Santa Croce
Hunkering modestly behind T-shirt kiosks is this soaring brick church, built by Scarpagnino after a disastrous fire in 1514 destroyed much of the Rialto…
Venice
Richard Wagner survived the 20-year effort of composing his stormy Ring cycle only to expire in this gracious palazzo, now the casino, in 1883. His suite …
Verona
Walk through the archway at the far end of Piazza dei Signori to these ornate Gothic funerary monuments, the elaborate tombs of the Della Scala family, in…
Venice
Housed in a former Benedictine monastery dedicated to Sant’Apollonia, this museum has a fairly predictable collection of religious art and the occasional…
Chiesa di San Giacomo di Rialto
San Polo & Santa Croce
Steps away from the Rialto Bridge, the most distinctive feature of 12th-century St James' Church is the 15th-century clock set into the facade facing the…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
This 5th-century marble throne is said to have been used by Attila the Hun when his horde swept south, terrorising the Roman city of Altino. In fact, the…
Venice
One of two twin granite columns in the Piazzetta di San Marco, bearing the two patron saints of Venice. This column bears the image of warrior-saint…
Giudecca, Lido & the Southern Islands
This vast belle époque hotel once epitomised Lido glamour, but it's been boarded up since 2016 – an oversized symbol of the beach resort's fall from…
The Veneto
Fans of Giorgione might want to pop into this small museum after checking out his altarpiece in the nearby duomo. The museum is home to an early frieze…
Venice
Under the arch of this covered passageway is hidden a reddish, heart-shaped stone about the size of a hand. Local lore has it that couples that touch it…
The Veneto
Housed in a handsome 16th-century palazzo, Este's notable archaeological museum contains around 65,000 objects, among them pre-Roman and Roman artefacts…
Verona
Occupying the north side of Piazza dei Signori is the 15th-century Loggia del Consiglio, the former city council building and Verona's finest Renaissance…
Treviso
Six mammoth Roman columns guard the entrance to Treviso's cathedral. The only real attraction inside this neoclassical hulk is Titian's Malchiostro…
Giudecca, Lido & the Southern Islands
Pass over Ponte di Borgo to explore the canals and calli (lanes) of a less overwhelming lagoon town. A miniature version of Venice right down to the lions…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Mazzorbo's late 13th-century Romanesque St Catherine's Church is the only one of the island's 10 medieval churches to survive. Call in to see its wooden…
Verona
From the battlements of the Castelvecchio you can look down on this asymmetrical, brick bridge that takes just three leaps to span the river Adige. It…
Vicenza
This is one of the few Palladio palaces not strictly open to the public, though as it is the seat of the town council, you can in theory take a sneaky…
Giudecca, Lido & the Southern Islands
Founded to promote local artists of all kinds, this quirky and welcoming gallery displays (and sells) a wide range of works by both established and young…
Verona
The famous, rather pensive statue of Dante looking like a lost tourist, stands on Piazza dei Signori where he lived from 1312 to 1318 in Cangrande's…
Venice
One of a pair of granite columns bearing the two patron saints of Venice in Piazetta di San Marco, this eastern column bears a statue representing a…
