Gnomon's Trip to Venice - Part 2
Created | Updated Dec 8, 2005
Venice was wonderful. It hasn't changed much since Mrs G and I were there 22 years ago.
Tuesday
Tuesday was slightly wet — light showers. We decided to see the Doge's Palace today, with possibly a trip to the Basilica. The palace is enormous: Venice was a republic, which meant that although there was a head of state, the Doge, big decisions were all made by groups of people. Even the position of Doge was rotated among the heads of the big families. Within the palace are all the halls and rooms needed to run the city, with the various council chambers. The biggest of these is big enough to seat the full council of 2,500 people, basically every nobleman in the city. The whole palace is sumptuously decorated with pictures by Tintoretto and other famous masters, including Tintoretto's Paradise, one of the biggest oil paintings in existence.
The queue into the Basilica looked very long, so we decided to return at 4.00pm, one hour before closing time, when the queue was likely to be shorter. We returned to the apartment for lunch (the great advantage of a self-catering apartment). After lunch we did a bit of wandering, then proceeded to the Basilica. Sure enough, the queue was shorter and we got in after a few minutes. The inside is amazing — every inch appears to be tiled in gold mosaics. Apparently there are 43,000 square feet of mosaics! We also got to see the Palo Alto, an amazing sheet of gold encrusted with thousands of jewels and with tiny pictures of saints and scenes from the bible. This was originally the altar screen of the Basilica.
Unfortunately, Italian signs are not too reliable and they decided to shut the Basilica at 4.10 instead of at 5.00, so we were kicked out after only about 10 minutes.
One disappointment to me in the square is that the Clock Tower, which I thought the girls would enjoy, is being restored at the moment, so it was wrapped up in a giant picture of the the 'Big Ben' tower of Westminster. I had been looking forward to being able to bring the girls up to see the bronze figures striking the bell.
After this, we went for a long walk down the sea front, passing Vivaldi's church, the Pieta, with an amazing trompe l'oeuil ceiling by Tiepolo, and on to the old Arsenals of Venice, where the production line ship builders could churn out a fully-fitted war ship in 24 hours, down to the barrels of biscuits in the kitchens. There's not much to see now except the impressive gate. Beyond the Arsenals is an unusual giant 'digital fountain' made from thousands of little LEDs showing a constant view of coloured patterns that resemble falling water. This is visible from about five miles away. We sampled some of the amazing Italian ice cream, then made our way back for dinner in a small restaurant just off Strada Nova.
Wednesday
Wednesday was a beautiful sunny day. Our last day, but we didn't have to leave for home until four o'clock, so we had plenty of time to see some of the things we'd missed. We started with a return trip to the Basilica. We wanted to see the four bronze horses which the Venetians stole from the Hippodrome in Constantinople when they sacked it in 1204. These are believed to be early Roman, although not much is known about them. The originals are now kept indoors in a special museum, while replicas stand outside on the front of the Basilica.
Next, we needed to buy some Venetian masks which are on sale in all the shops. After this we went to the Ca' Rezzonico, which is an old Venetian palace which has been done up in 18th-Century style as a museum. To get to it, we had to cross the Grand Canal, which we did in a traghetto, which is a basic gondola. The trip cost us 50 cents each! The Ca' Rezzonico is a wonderful example of a Venetian Palazza. They're much bigger inside than they look — our entire house would fit in the hallway of this palace.
We had a big lunchtime dinner in a little street off the Campo Sant' Margherita, then wandered on to the Ghetto. The Ghetto was originally a foundry ('ghetto' means foundry in Italian). When the Pope issued a proclamation saying that all Jews should be evicted from cities, the Venetians couldn't agree, as the Jews were an important part of the business of the city. They gave the New Foundry island to the Jews with the agreement that they would be confined there during the night. Initially this was for the protection of the Jews, but it gradually be came a prison with huge gates and guards. The Jews couldn't leave, so they started to build upwards; the buildings in the Ghetto are taller than the ones elsewhere in Venice, up to seven stories high. Eventually there were too many people and they spread to the Old Ghetto (Old Foundry) as well, so the Old Ghetto as a home for Jews was later than the New Ghetto (the original). Of course, the word 'ghetto' is now used for any place where a section of society is imprisoned or forced to live. The gates to the Ghetto were removed by Napoleon when he conquered Venice in 1797, but Jews were forced to live there up to the mid-19th Century. Now there is a Jewish museum and a few shops.
Finally, we collected our bags and headed to the airport, once again taking the waterbus.
The girls reckon that was the best short holiday they've been on yet.
Cost
I was told that Venice had become ferociously expensive. It hasn't. Our apartment cost €110 a night for the four of us. You'd be hard-put to find somewhere in London at that price. Dinners cost between €10 and €13 a head, including wine for the adults.
The vaporetto trip down the grand canal was expensive at €5 each, but the all-day trip to the northern islands was only €8.50 so we didn't spend too much on transport. The Ducal palace cost a lot: €28 for the four of us. But the Basilica was free entrance, although you had to pay to see the golden altar screen and again to see the bronze horses.
All in all, we spent some money, but I don't think we were ripped off.
General Travel and Place Articles Archive
