Venetian history

In the year 1800 the Conclave to elect the new Pope was held in Venice, on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. It was the last time a Conclave did not take place in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. [...]

This is a story woven across Venice, Constantinople and later on Istanbul. It talks about their reciprocal love for gems, enamels and gold. An entangled, at times legendary story between two [...]

Venice and Persia are over 4000 kilometers away from each other. But such a distance did not discourage Venetian merchants or Persian ambassadors from keeping a solid relationship. In fact, [...]

The remains of a Roman Villa in the northern Venetian lagoon, near Lio Piccolo, have been under investigation since the archeologist Ernesto Canal started in the 1980s.  Every year new [...]

Touring the Jewish museum and all the five synagogues in Venice will finally be possible in 2025. The good news is that after many years the restoration is almost finished. At the moment I am [...]

Marco Polo is one of those characters a tourist guide in Venice will always mention. Born in Venice in 1254, Marco Polo accompanied his father and his uncle when he was only 17 and reached Asia [...]

The library of San Francesco della Vigna in Venice is a true jewel. In a city where many libraries are fascinating, such as the Marciana National Library or the Querini Stampalia library or the [...]

The plague was a constant problem for Venice in the ancient times. A city devoted to trading could not simply reject foreign ships reaching the city for fear they would bring diseases, otherwise [...]

Coffee trade in Venice reached its climax in the middle of the 18th century.  Nearly 28 million cups of coffee per year would be drunk in Venice and its territories in the Stato da Terra in [...]

Holy relics and disbelief Holy relics create curiosity and even when disbelief prevails, wouldn’t you still feel like checking as St. Thomas did? At the Accademia Galleries in Venice you can [...]