2007 Venice, Italy

Photo Journal of my visit to Venice, Italy in 2007. It includes images of gondolas, of the Piazza San Marco and views from the Campanile.
Chatting Gondola-drivers in Venice, Italy. : Italy Chatting Gondola-drivers in Venice, Italy. : Italy The Grand Canal (or Canalazzo) from Ponte dell' Accademia in Venice, Italy. : Italy Feeding the pigeons on Piazza San Marco - Venice, Italy. : Italy A romantic Gondola ride in Venice, Italy. : Italy, People
Carnaval masks for sale - Venice, Italy. : Italy Feeding the pigeons on Piazza San Marco - Venice, Italy. : Italy The figure of Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling before the winged lion - the symbol of St Mark - on the Westside of Palazzo Ducale in Venice, Italy. The legend says that if the book, held by lion, is open it is the time of peace and when the book is closed (no negotiations) it is the time of war. : Italy The Horses of St Mark - Venice, Iatly. The Horses of St Mark were installed on the basilica di San Marco about 1254. They date to Classical Antiquity; by some accounts they once adorned a Roman triumphal arch. The horses were found in Constantinople and in 1204 doge Enrico Dandolo sent them back to Venice as part of the loot sacked during the Fourth Crusade. They were taken by Napoleon in 1797 as war trophies and crowned the Arc de Triumphe in Paris. They were returned in 1815 and remained in place until the 1990s. Nowadays the horses are on display in an exhibition room in the basilica and the horses on the facade are bronze replicas. : Italy Statue of St Theodore, the original patron saint of Venice, crowning one of the two columns on Piazzetta San Marco. : Italy
Piazza San Marco as seen from the 99m tall Campanile - Venice, Italy. : Italy Piazza San Marco as seen from the 99m tall Campanile - Venice, Italy. : Italy Palazzo Ducale as seen from the 99m tall Campanile - Venice, Italy. : Italy Detail of Torre dell'Orologio on Piazza San Marco - Venice, Italy. : Italy Magnificent marble Scala dei Giganti (Giants' staircase) in the main courtyard of Palazzo Ducale - Venice, Italy. It is topped by Sansovino's statues of Mars and Neptune, behind which the swearing-in ceremony of the doge took place. : Italy
The domes of the Basilica di San Marco as seen from the Campanile - Venice, Italy. : Italy View from the Campanile - Venice, Italy. : Italy Santa Maria della Salute Church as seen from the Campanile - Venice, Italy. : Italy Detail of the Westside of the Palazzo Ducale - Venice, Italy. Note the two darker columns. This is the place where death sentences would be solemnly read out onto the Piazetta di San Marco. The sentences were usually carried out between the two columns on the piazetta. : Italy Gondolas - Venice, Italy. : Italy
One of the two 16th century wells in the main courtyard of Palazzo Ducale - Venice, Italy. : Italy Palazzo Ducale - Venice, Italy. : Italy Piazza di San Marco - Venice, Italy. : Italy Venice, Italy. : Italy Venice, Italy. : Italy, People
Gondolas - Venice, Italy. : Italy View of Piazza di San Marco from Museo Correr - Venice, Italy. : Italy Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) - Venice, Italy. The first bridge across the Grand Canal, nothing more than a dodgy pontoon arrangement, was build here around 1180. A more permanent wooden structure was built in 1265, but was badly damaged during a rebellion in 1310. The bridge was repaired, but it collapsed in 1444 under the weight of a crowd watching the wedding procession of the Marquis of Ferrara. It was again rebuilt as a wooden drawbridge but finally it was replaced by the current marble bridge built by Antonio da Ponte. It was first commisioned in 1588 and finally completed in 1592. : Italy Religious festivities near Arsenale - Venice, Italy. : Italy Church of San Giorgio Maggiore with its 60m high bell tower on the island Giudecca - Venice, Italy. : Italy
Two Atlases (presumably identical twins) holding up a bronze globe. On top of the globe stands a statue of Fortuna which acts as a weather vane by holding a garment (or perhaps a ship's rudder) to the wind. This architectural marvel crowns the tower of the Dogana di Mare (Sea Customs Post) - Venice, Italy. : Italy The Grand Canal (or Canalazzo), the street of the nobles, is one of the rivers which have formed the lagoon by finding its way through the mud-banks, past the mouths of the Lido, to the open sea. It is the original rivo alto (deep stream) which created Venice, and up which the commerce of all countries was able to reach the city in the days of her splendour. : Italy The Arsenale by night - Venice, Italy. : Italy Venice, Italy. : Italy