Venice - Italy - page 324

bulk of its exhibitions, in pavilions designed and built specifically for individual
contributing nations.
Just before you reach the public gardens, you'll encounter Venice's renowned
shipyard, the historically significant Arsenale, where the city's powerful mercan-
tile and military fleets were assembled and repaired. The shipyard is very much a
city-within-a-city. In its heyday, over 15,000 men would toil here on a seemingly
endless supply of ships, often for military expeditions that demanded serious
armadas. Legend recalls that in its busiest times the dockyard could complete an
entire ship in 24 hours, or produce 100 warships in 2 months. But since the
Arsenale is now administered by the Italian Navy, visitors generally don't get to
tour this most interesting and unusual sight, which in many ways was the source
of the Republic's maritime power and economic vitality for several hundred years.
At the 15th-century gateway, four stone lions—the spoils of war—stand guard;
one of them is believed to have been taken from ancient Athens, dating back over
2 millennia. For a bare glimpse inside the Arsenale, you need to be in Venice dur-
ing the Biennale (see “Festival City,” later in this chapter), when part of the dock-
yard opens up as an exhibition space. In May, a boating festival offers another
opportunity to take a look at this fabled military institution.
As far as compact attractions go, Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli
Schiavoni

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(Fondamenta Furlani, 3259/A Castello; € 3; Tues-Sat 9:30am-
12:30pm and 3:30-6pm, Sun 9:30am-12:30pm) is among my favorites, mainly for
its works by Vittore Carpaccio. The Scuole was established by Venice's Slavic pop-
ulation. The magnificent ground-floor interior is mainly covered with Carpaccio's
early-16th-century paintings of the patron saints of Dalmatia, George, Jerome,
and Tryphone. Note that during festivals the Scuola is only open in the morning.
Closely associated with an infamous nunnery whose cloistered ladies allegedly
abandoned their vows, San Zaccaria (St. Zacchary)

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(Campo San Zaccaria;
% 041-5221257; Mon-Sat 10am-noon, daily 4-6pm) is a Gothic church dating
back to the 9th century but dominated by Coducci's 15th-century Renaissance
facade. The body of San Zaccaria is proudly displayed in a glass enclosure, but it's
the finely crafted work of Giovanni Bellini that really stands out here; his Virgin
and Child Enthroned with Four Saints is done in classic Venetian style, particularly
in the use of color and shade, and the magnificence of its fine detail.
It may be difficult to imagine today, but there was a time when horses were
permitted on Venice's cobblestone walkways; you'll find evidence of this in an
equestrian statue on Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Depicting Bartolomeo
Colleoni, this bronze Renaissance statue is by Andrea Verrocchio, a Florentine
who taught da Vinci. The canal-side campo, which has several restaurants, is not
only popular with early-evening romantics and wine tasters, but is worth visiting
(even if it's not on most itineraries) for its enormous Gothic church, Chiesa di
Santissimi Giovanni e Paolo (Church of Sts. John and Paul)

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(Campo SS.
Giovanni e Paolo, Castello 6363; % 041-2416014 or 041-5235913; € 2.50;
Mon-Sat 7am-12:30pm and 3:30-7pm, Sun 3-7pm), which stands next in line
after St. Mark's Basilica in terms of importance to Venice. Built by the
Dominicans between the 13th and 15th centuries, it is the final resting place of
numerous venerable Venetians, among them 25 doges, and Titian, the city's
favorite artist.