10 Must-See Sites in Venice

Image by L. Richard Martin, Jr. via Flickr


By Candee Wilson


If you're planning a trip to Italy, you need to include Venice on your itinerary. It is a magical place considered to be one of the most romantic cities in the world. Venice can't be seen in a few hours. Do yourself a favor and allow a minimum of two days to explore and visit these must-see sites:
1. Basilica di San Marco (often referred to as St. Mark's Cathedral) - With architecture that blends the styles of East and West, it is one of the greatest buildings in Europe. The carvings, mosaics, bronzes and art are a feast for the eyes. Because there is so much to see, it is best to take a guided tour of the Basilica to make sure you see the most important features.

Venice, Italy - Ghetto

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By Harry Preston

The Jewish Ghetto, famed as the setting for Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, dates from 1516 when the Council of Ten was pursuing its policy of zoning Venice. Murano was given over to glass production, Arsenale to ship building and the northerly island where there once stood a foundry (geto) became the home of Venice's Jewish population who had arrived as refugees from the mainland. Venice was a tolerant host and Jews were allowed to trade in medicine, money-lending and textiles. The Ghetto (which was to give its name to all other ghettos in Europe) was cordoned off by canals and entered by two water gates manned by Christian guards.
Although Napoleon removed the gates when he attacked Venice, the Austrians reinstalled them when they took over the city after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Venice's Jewish population was not fully emancipated until 1866 when the city became part of the new kingdom of Italy. By that time. two satellite ghettos, Ghetto Vecchio and Ghetto Novissimo, strained to accommodate a population that had swelled to 5,000.
Because of overcrowding, houses in the Ghetto were built as high as possible, but these Venetian skyscrapers were forbidden to be more than one-third taller than any other Venetian building. As a result, as many storeys as possible were crammed in, resulting in ceilings that are lower than anywhere else in Venice. Nowadays, the Ghetto is inhabited by only five Jewish families, but it still maintains its kosher food shops, a Jewish bakery and two synagogues. The Museo Ebraico here shows visitors many 17th- and 19th-century Ghetto artefacts followed by guided tours of the area's German, Spanish and Levantine synagogues.
For more information about Venice, Italy visit GuidedTourVenice.com.
For more information about Cuba visit GuidedTourCuba.com.

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