Venice

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The absolute other end of paintings to go and see would be the Carpaccios in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, which is behind San Marco. They’re almost genre pictures because they are pictures of Venice as it was in 1500. There is this extraordinary, overriding oddity about Venice, which is that because it’s so unchanged whether it’s in Carpaccio or Bellini, Guardi or Canaletto, you’re looking at paintings with a costumed cast that could be you. That’s such an exciting thing. Obviously, things change a bit: the gondolas used to have covers, now they don’t. But, in general, many views, whether medieval or later, are recognizably unchanged. No wonder there were no cats. They would’ve hated to be in there. No personal space whatsoever. Very rude staff too, rushing people through the shop. Lovingly referred to as Venice's living room, St Mark's Square is where you can stroll, enjoy the sun, and grab a coffee or lunch at the fashionable cafes. Venice breakfasts are light and simple. Expect strong coffee, freshly baked croissants and fruit plates. But, because you're on holiday, you should probably try a chiacchiere. These indulgent, deep-fried pastries are made with sweet marsala wine, lemon zest and vanilla. But, be warned, they are seriously addictive. This place felt more like a weird museum than a bookstore. Once you enter the store, you feel as if you're on a train and you can't get off and actually enjoy the thousands upon thousands of books that surround you. Instead, propelled by the staff asking you to move along and the people behind you expecting you to walk faster, you end up walking through the store in a sort of pre-planned path, only to end up at the exit without having looked at a single book.

VISIT VENICE | VeneziaUnica City Pass VISIT VENICE | VeneziaUnica City Pass

Themis-Athena wrote: "Good grief. There are still PLENTY of books on this list that don't seem to have anything to do with Venice whatsoever! The modern Venetian ... examines the world's delights analytically, as a hungry entomologist might dissect a rare but potentially edible spider." (The City: 17) So Palladianism is for some people the most and for others the second most important architectural export. I like mysteries so I’ve read quite a few of Donna Leon’s books over the years, just because there are so many of them. When I was reading your travel guide to Venice and you mentioned the name of a place, I kept going, ‘Oh, yes, I know that name. Brunetti is always walking along there.’

San Marco, the city’s unofficial centre, is home to the stunning Byzantine architecture of St Mark’s Basilica and the world-renowned La Fenice Theatre. Despite the high density of visitors, the area’s historic design and epic scenery are unforgettable. Castello is home to a picturesque waterfront and old markets. Discover local naval heritage at Museo Storico Navale, explore narrow streets to see laundry drying in the breeze and visit beautiful churches, tiny bars and second-hand bookshops. Dorsoduro, full of iconic architecture and stunning palazzos, is quieter than San Marco, yet has fantastic restaurants and hip bars. The old industrial quarter’s vibrant student scene is ideal for a cheap night out. On Venice holidays you can spend days just swooning over its ornate bridges, elegant archways and gilded domes. Romance is just about everywhere you look, from its pretty squares and canals to its beautiful art collections. A real visual feast, just wandering and taking in the sensational architecture of the Rialto Bridge, St Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the vistas of the Grand Canal, is a wonderful experience. The book, first published in 1960, was originally titled 'The World of Venice', and the richness of its description makes Venice feel like an enclosed world, intoxicating, enthralling and claustrophobic and crowded: ( "the little subsidiary passages that creep padded and muffled among the houses, like the runs of city weasels.") This Venice as a place different and apart from the rest of the world, even from its own hinterland, the idea of it as a place of intrigue and carnival, which is a holiday from normal life more so than most cultural city destinations. (Although the recent level of prominence of the carnival and its masks for tourism are apparently a fairly recent innovation). I fell in love with La Serenissima and have read everything I could get my hands on, fiction and non-fiction. This is one of the best non-fiction titles I have read. From the history to the story of uninhabited islets, the book covers every aspect of this great city. Reading this book gives an idea of what it means to live in Venice.

The best books on Venice - Five Books

Reading the whole of The Stones of Venice is unbelievably stiff and solid, but this edition is one of two or three very good, filleted versions of it with commentaries. It’s got such a bearing not just on how you read Venice, but on how you read our own built environment. There’s the Gothic Revival, which turns into the Arts and Crafts movement. It’s at the root of a lot of socialist ideas. William Morris is writing News from Nowhere at the same time as he is trying to help campaign for Venice to be looked after properly. It’s a powerful document. It’s a book that says Venice is not just a beautiful playbox, it’s also a crucible of ideas that have had a massive effect on Northern European culture and social life. The earliest of all state banks, the Banca Giro, was opened on the Rialto in the twelfth century." (The City: 19) Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount. But there's a problem. The book, like the city, is frozen in time. Jan Morris's Venice is very much of the 1950s. First published in 1960, which at the time of writing makes it more than 64 years old. And while much of Venice hasn't changed in that time, there is a sense that we are reading two histories - Jan's history of Venice plus her own history. the Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, hidden away behind the Rialto like a precious stone in ruffled satin…Do we not know them well, whenever we live, the aesthetic conservers on the one hand, the men of change on the other? Which of these two philosophies is the more romantic, I have never been able to decide." (The City: 22) That’s an awfully good phrase to hang it on, in that I don’t think there is another city that has remained as much as it was, say, 150 years ago. That’s unusual and it’s because of the extraordinary topography in that Venice has no suburbs. Almost every other city of any importance or size that one knows has a centro storico and then either there’s a downtown, or there are suburbs that dilute.