Day 22 - The Second Walking Tour of Venice

Today we started out on another or Mr. Link's walking tours. This one started at the Rialto Bridge and took us north and west covering new ground. The area we were entering is one that most tourists never see. On the day we were there we did meet a few and at a lunch stop we met a couple from Tamworth in the UK Midlands clutching "Venice for Pleasure". Lunch was at a pleasant small restaurant on the usual fondamente by a canal.


We passed by a house that Tintoretto had lived in. On the outside wall were two stone figures

One of the stone figures outside Tintoretto's house

A second stone figure with Moorish influence

The Maselli Palace

A sculpture on the palace wall, a man leading a camel

The Church of S. Alvise

Detail of the church architecture

A very beautiful doorway at the church

Are we feeling peckish?

Or even really hungry?

By this time we had made our way back to the Grand Canal, its usual bustling self.

The Grand Canal

We then picked up the route of another of the walks that took us to Piazza di San Marco and then down to the Giudecca Canal that runs by the main island with the island of Giudecca opposite.

The Piazza di San Marco

The Bell Tower in the Piazza

One of the features of the Piazza are the "dueling orchestras". These are cafe orchestras on the sides of the Piazza and they take turns to play for their customers trying to be the best to attract more people.

One of the dueling orchestras

There is always someone willing to take your "we were really there" photograph

We then left the Piazza and made our way towards the Giudecca canal passing by the church of S. Moise. Described by John Ruskin as "the frightful facade of S. Moise" and "one of the basest examples of the basest school of the Renaissance" Not sure why.

The church of S. Moise, so hated by John Ruskin

On the Grand Canal, the Palazzo Barbarigo, owned by the Venezia Murano Glass Company which has many decorative mosaics on the walls.

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum is next door. Peggy Guggenheim (1898 -1979) was a very wealthy American, heiress to the Guggenheim fortune who made her mark as a patron of modern artists. She introduced Europe's avant-garde to a skeptical America. She retired to Venice in 1948 moving into an unfinished Palazzo on the Grand Canal, which is why the building only has one floor. She placed her large collection there and it is now a museum with one of the world's best collection of 20th century art. She is buried in the garden!

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum on the Grand Canal

No were are not in Pisa, the leaning bell tower of the Church of S. Stefano

The building to the left in the picture is a museum dedicated to Vivaldi, who is the big man in Venice. Situated in the de-consecrated Church of San Maurizio it contains a very large collection of musical instruments from the time of Vivaldi.




The instrument collection in the Church of San Maurizio

We crossed the Grand Canal on the Accademia bridge. Accademia contains a magnificent collection of paintings, the greatest museum anywhere for Venetian Renaissance art. We passed by because it was one of the places we had visited on the previous trip.

A view of the Grand Canal from Accademia Bridge.

Continuing on we reached the Giudecca Canal which separates the main island from the island of Giudeccia. This is the route that cruise ships use when arriving or leaving Venice Cruiseship Terminal.

The church of San Giorgio Maggiore on its own island

Redontore on Giudecca

We have dinner on the fondamente overlooking these wonderful views. A cruise ship went by leaving Venice. It was well into evening by now and we were treated to a great sunset to the west. It was our last evening and we went home after another excellent day.

Goodnight Venice