Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chiesa di San Zaccaria
CHURCH
( 041 522 12 57; Campo San Zaccaria 4693; 10am-noon & 4-6pm Mon-Sat, 4-6pm Sun; San
Zaccaria)
When 15th-century Venetian girls showed more interest in sailors than
saints, they were sent to the convent adjoining San Zaccaria. The wealth showered on the
church by their grateful parents is evident. Masterpieces by Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto and
Van Dyck crowd the walls. Bellini's altarpiece is such a treasure that Napoleon whisked it
away to Paris for 20 years when he plundered the city in 1797.
HISTORIC BUILDING
Arsenale
( 041 521 88 28;
www.labiennale.org
; Campo della Tana; adult €20, reduced €12-16; 10am-6pm
Tue-Sun; Arsenale)
Founded in 1104, the Arsenale soon became the greatest medieval
shipyard in Europe, home to 300 shipping companies employing up to 16,000 people.
Capable of turning out a new galley in a day, it is considered a forerunner of mass indus-
trial production. Though it's closed to the public most of the year, arty types invade the
shipyard during Venice's art and architecture Biennales, when it hosts exhibitions and spe-
cial events.
Giardini Pubblici
(
www.labiennale.org
; Giardini, Biennale)
Venice's public gardens were laid out between 1808
and 1812 on the orders of Napoleon, who decided the city needed a little breathing space.
Never mind that an entire residential district had to be demolished. A winning combina-
tion of formal gardens and winding pathways, the park now stretches from Via Garibaldi
past the Biennale pavilions to Sant'Elena, making this the largest park in Venice.
A large portion of the gardens is given over to the Biennale exhibition arena, hosting in-
ternational art (odd years) and architecture (even years) events in 30 modernist pavilions,
each allocated to a different nation. During the Art Biennale's June-September run, con-
noisseurs swarm national showcases ranging from Geza Rintel Maroti's 1909
secessionist-era Hungarian Pavilion to Philip Cox's 1988 boxy, yellow Australian Pavil-
ion, frequently mistaken for a construction trailer.
GARDEN
La Pietà
CHURCH
