Venice

Venice and its lagoon are just 40 minutes from Terre Bianche. Unique, romantic, vivacious and magic: this is how Venice appears. There everything is precious art, magnificent architecture, vibrant culture. There everything smells of ancient history.
With its impressive St. Mark’s Basilica, covered with magnificent and refined marble and mosaics, St. Mark’s Square is unique in its exquisiteness. The Bell Tower and the Doge’s Palace, symbol of the Serenissima, overlook the square. Next to the Basilica is the Clock Tower, a masterpiece of engineering, which marks the passage of time. The Procuratie, elegant palaces that delimit the three sides of the square look like an ornamental lace of incomparable beauty.
Also, in St. Mark’s Square is the oldest Italian Café (1720), the Caffè Florian with its elegant interiors that are reflected in many of the mirrors that decorate its walls.
From St. Mark’s Square you can see the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with its soaring bell tower that rises from the monumental complex, which is a masterpiece of great architects, including the famous Andrea Palladio. It is a real open-air museum that you can visit just crossing the Grand Canal, the city’s main “waterway”. The Grand Canal begins at Punta della Dogana, the ancient port of the Serenissima, which has a characteristic triangular shape.
There are four bridges that cross the canal: the Accademia Bridge, the Rialto Bridge (the oldest and most famous), the Scalzi Bridge and the newest Constitution Bridge.

Punta della Dogana, where the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal divide, is home to a number of buildings, including the Dogana da Mar complex which, together with Palazzo Grassi, both headquarters of the François Pinault Foundation, are centers of excellence for contemporary art in Italy and around the world.

Getting lost among campi and campielli, squares and small squares, and calli, the typical Venetian streets, is a must, as well as walking head up to admire mullioned windows and cornices, palaces and statues.
Walking around you can arrive to the Arsenal, which was built in the 12th century and then enlarged during the great political and commercial development of Venice. Today it is home to the Biennale of Art and Architecture. The International Film Festival is held, instead, in the historic Palazzo del Cinema at the Lido.
Not to be missed is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a prestigious collection of 20th century works of art exhibited at Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Other outstanding museums are the Academy Galleries, housed in the majestic complex of the Scuola Grande de la Carità, which also includes a church and monastery with the same name, and Ca' Rezzonico, one of the most beautiful Renaissance palaces, home to the Venetian 18th century Museum.
The city of Venice is divided in sestieri (six neighborhoods) which are Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Marco, San Polo and Santa Croce. They all have renowned campi that are framed by splendid religious buildings and elegant noble palaces.

The lagoon that surrounds Venice is scattered with many islands. The most important are Burano, famous for the production of lace; Murano, for glass processing; Pellestrina, characterized by the colorful fishermen’s houses and its sand dunes; and Torcello, one of the oldest human settlements in the area.