Venice, Part 4: Tourist Must-sees

As tourists, Herself and I are a little bit rebellious. We were in
Venice because there is a widely held view that it is worth visiting.
But we did not feel obliged to see everything in Venice which is
widely believed to be worth seeing. And I defend this on two grounds:
first, we will do as we damn well please on our holidays; second,
Venice is a "being-there" place rather than a "looking-at" place.
Nevertheless, we did some of the tourist stuff.

There is much fine art to be seen in Venice, and we saw some. But I
was not greatly taken by it. I don't generally go for large canvases
painted for churches and public buildings. I find myself imagining the
church artist being given his commission: "We need four pictures to
fill those spaces on the walls. Make sure that they tone in with the
marble. I'm a bit concerned about laxity in morals, so it would be
useful if you gave us representations of virtuous people who are good
exemplars. The budget is 6,000, including materials and framing, and I
want the pictures hung before Easter." Such works do not reach me. So
I refrain from commentary on fine art in Venice. Except for one
observation: Venice is scenic, and much depicted. There is a cottage
industry in producing paintings and drawings for sale to visitors.
Most of what is offered is uninspired production-line stuff, but here
and there you can find some quite pleasing works at quite modest
prices (in general, the pictures without gondolas were less clichéd).

Now, on to looking at places.

Piazza San Marco is a fine civic space, so much represented in
paintings and photographs that it seems familiar when you first see
it. A leisurely circuit is a must. The Campanile in the piazza is
emblematic of Venice and, I am told, affords a great view of the city.
Being acrophobic, I sent Herself up to check it while I stayed at sea
level. She confirmed the reports. "Red roofs" was her succinct
summary.

The Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) is well worth visiting. The
exterior is impressive without being ostentatious, conveying an
impression of great confidence. Despite its name, serving as a
residence for the Doge was a minor function of the building. It was
the centre for all public administration, with sections for a number
of councils and administrative committees and for various courts. The
Doge's accommodation was relatively modest (I said "relatively"; it's
still pretty grand) as, it seems, were his powers. Venice was an
oligarchy, and the Doge was little more than an elected titular head
of state. The great rooms were those for the councils which really
held the power. They are very grand, and adorned with a very
impressive collection of works by the great Venetian painters. The
rooms occupied by the judiciary and the courts were rather more
sombre. The tour includes a visit to the prison, which is cleaner and
better lit today than when it was in use for its original purpose, but
is still a dismal place.

As with many people, my first knowledge of the Rialto was derived from
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Today's bridge post-dates the play
by a few decades, and is an impressive and elegant piece of
seventeenth century engineering. It is best viewed from the water, or
from the waterside; crossing the bridge is not remarkably interesting.

We crossed the Bridge of Sighs when we passed from the Palazzo Ducale
into the prison. From the inside it is no more than a passage with
small windows, the famous windows which supposedly induced the sighs.
The external view was, to my eyes, not greatly more impressive. It
still looks like a passage. I found the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford more
aesthetically pleasing.

Venice is a city of churches, and the guidebooks make much of them as
interesting buildings and as repositories of important works of art.
So, being perverse, we did not visit many of them.

We were not so perverse as to ignore St. Mark's Basilica. To our
surprise, there was no admission charge, but when we were inside we
noted that the marketing was astute: charges were levied to visit
particular attractions inside. The church is embellished with an acre
of mosaic (it's worth departing from metric standards here, as 4,000
sq.m. does not have the same resonance), but I had the capacity to
regard only a fraction of it: it's just too much. In St. Mark's, more
than any other place in Venice, I found it easy to conjure up my own
image of Venice's days of greatness, of power and wealth and
confidence.

On one of our rambles we found ourselves at the church of Santa Maria
Assunta, also known as Chiesa dei Gesuiti. I remembered that it had
been mentioned in the guidebooks for something, but I couldn't recall
what. So we decided to find out what we should be looking for, and
went in. It is a large baroque church which has seen better days: the
fabric of the building seemed a little tired, and I noticed a large
crack which might cause concern to an engineer. This was hardly the
stuff of guidebooks. The unusual and ornate pulpit might deserve a
mention, but then we found what many would consider the church's real
treasu a fine Titian, depicting the martyrdom of San Lorenzo. He
was shown as being roasted over a fire, a fate that did not seem so
awful on a cold February day as it might in the heat of high summer.
Then I saw the legs. Stone legs. My eyes went up, and I saw a statue
of the Madonna and Child. Unbelieving, I looked back down. Yes, legs.
Woman's legs. The Madonna has legs! Clad in a diaphanous stone
garment, but real legs -- well, real stone legs. Two of them. The
Madonna represented as a woman, a sexual being. I looked up again.
Flowing hair instead of the customary demure veil. Eyes half closed
and mouth half open (how different that is from eyes half open and
mouth half closed). The mother of God might have been a virgin and
held by Christians to be the personification of purity, but the artist
was not afraid to represent her as a real woman who might be desired
by men. The Sexy Madonna. And she was in no guidebook. I was so amazed
by the representation that I forgot the name of the sculptor --
something like de l'Aglio, but I cannot now find anything about a
sculptor of that or similar name.

One of the more noted churches in Venice is San Giorgio Maggiore,
which is opposite Piazza San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, and
separated from them by about 400m. of water. So we took a vaporetto
across to get a close-up look at it. It is literally Palladian, the
last great work of the renowned architect, and houses, among other
things, some Tintorettos. It was Sunday morning when we visited, and
we were prepared to give way to a mass if one was happening, but the
church seems not to be used now for worship. It was very quiet there,
only two other visitors. I found the church imposing and doubly cold
-- it was a wintry February day, but the building was also
psychologically cold, almost forbidding. I won't say that I could take
or leave the Tintorettos; I would leave them. It had been suggested to
me that the campanile affords the best view in Venice, and I was
prepared to continue the research by sending Herself up. But it was
closed for maintenance work. Lest this paragraph be taken as wholly
negative, let me point out that I found the church imposing, and that
is worth experiencing. The view back towards the city is also worth
beholding.

The only other church we visited was my favourite: San Giacomo di
Rialto, located, as the name suggests, close to the Rialto. It is not
a grand church like the others, rather the opposite, small and cosy.
It would invite a believer to be comfortable with, rather than in awe
of, God. The guidebooks say that it is the oldest church in Venice.

Our payment for admission to the Palazzo Ducale had covered a combined
ticket which included the museum on Piazza San Marco. In effect, the
museum had become a free visit, and we were not going to waste the
opportunity. The museum occupies a good deal of the space above ground
level in Piazza San Marco, and the varied collection has something for
almost any interest -- fine arts, decorative arts, archaeology, daily
life (particularly of the wealthier members of Venetian society),
military and naval history, literature, and much else. I was
particularly interested in the images of Venice and the maps, both
those of Venice and a collection of navigational maps. We spent a
couple of enjoyable hours there until we were overwhelmed, and
returned to the outside world.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Funny you should mention that hostel... I saw the apparently sad and
forlorn residents gathered in front from the vaporetto as I passed by
one evening... the solitary pizza joint next door on the rather desolate
strip of buildings had closed earlier than they seemed to expect;
leaving them with apparently nothing else to do but gaze across the
lagoon at the real scenery... Who knew they were transfixed...g

For Euro 6.5 more than they charged I got a small private room booked
via the train station tourist office a mere Five minute walk over the
canal bridge right in front.

Tim K

"Rita" wrote in message
...

I stayed in the youth hostel which is located on an island just
across the water from San Marco's cathedral and the view was pure
Monet. Altogether a very frugal visit but one I'd like to repeat.

Truth be told I lucked out... I *had* that hostel's addy in my pack
when I arrived early AM on the night train from Interlocken; no place
yet for the night. After being assailed by the gaggle of hotel touts
near the front doors, one pointed to the tourist office (yet to open in
15m) when I said "anything less expensive?"...g I was second in line
when it opened and joyful at the result! I'd doubt those cheap single
rooms last long!

Tim K

"Rita" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 04:03:58 GMT, "Timothy Kroesen"

wrote:

Funny you should mention that hostel... I saw the apparently sad and
forlorn residents gathered in front from the vaporetto as I passed by
one evening... the solitary pizza joint next door on the rather
desolate
strip of buildings had closed earlier than they seemed to expect;
leaving them with apparently nothing else to do but gaze across the
lagoon at the real scenery... Who knew they were transfixed...g

For Euro 6.5 more than they charged I got a small private room booked
via the train station tourist office a mere Five minute walk over the
canal bridge right in front.

Tim K

Well, I am very old and not into nightlife. The hostel sold cheap
meals and
wine. I had been in Paris and booked ahead. Didn't want to end up in
Venice
with no choice but an expensive room. It is true there is nothing to
do on that
island itself. In years past I took my chances and booked cheap rooms
from
tourist offices, but I had read that in Venice it was difficult to
find a cheap
room. I had full days in Venice and was quite happy to come back to
the hostel,
have something to eat and go to bed

"Rita" wrote in message
.. .

I stayed in the youth hostel which is located on an island just
across the water from San Marco's cathedral and the view was pure
Monet. Altogether a very frugal visit but one I'd like to repeat.