3 great spots to visit in Venice, if you are a bit art lover
Venice is being full of art and cultural treasures. But why is it like that?
Where to find the greatest places to
admire important art and history jewels?
Throughout a history, it has been a powerful city-state. La Serenissima has been spreading around only a few tiny islands, but it had managed to rule the seas and to get important connections with prosperous places – as Constantinople, and the Eastern Mediterranean.
This meant high import of the best quality goods – from statues, golden pieces of former palaces decoration, pieces of architecture, textile, style of clothing. Venice could create its own style, that was consisting of these various object. For so many years, it has also been creating its own symbolism.
You can see the examples of this walking around the islands – just be more careful and you will see various creatures as part of the architecture, „gothic“ style windows, and their original significant statues.
Which are the places you can see the example of their love of art and beauty?
I will give you few examples. By visiting them, you will not only experience nice artworks, you can also understand the place where you are.
1. Basilica San Marco
To visit: http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/?lang=en
Venice without basilica is like a modern Paris without Eiffel tower! It is a bit miracle, that this heavy and stupendous building is even standing. Try to stay in front of that – it is crooked! Not only its base is being built above the sea level and literary flooded almost every morning. If you step inside of basilica, you will see the crooked floor, the power of gravity.
The basilica was being built in many phases. The first order to built the place to place the relics of Saint Marco was in 828, the chapel was finished in 832. After this, there were reconstructions and additional constructions, and it gained its form in the 1500s. The basilica is the example of Italo – Gothic style.
The magnificent building finished after many years of effort, surviving the times of many rulers of the city, many changes of society. What connects all of this, is Venetian´s love and proudness of their city. It is a magnificent building, Domus of God, but it also proves the power of La Serenissima.
On the front of the basilica, there are precious mosaics, showing the story. If you try to read the story, you would see how the body of Saint Marco was gotten into Venice. Literary, it was stolen from former Turkey, under the layer of dead porks. As Muslims could not touch meat as this, Christians from Venice could take the relics of their patron to their city. To approve this act, historians of that era write, that when the relics of Saint Marco were brought to Venice, Archangel Gabriel appeared and greeted in a way „ Welcome Home“.
Inside of the Domus, you can see golden mosaics, these mosaics and parts of the decorations are imported during the era of Christian Crusades. On the long road to Jerusalem, Venetians beat Constantinople, took power over the city. The siege and sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. It was though, against pope´s will. When the pope found out, that Venetians attacked another Christian city, he wrote the letter of excommunication. It did not help, Venetians, under the rule of blind doge Dandolo infamously beaten Constantinople. Took and destroyed incredible numbers of their art and built powerful sea connection. The sack of Constantinople is a major turning point in medieval history. The Crusaders' decision to attack the world's largest Christian city was unprecedented and immediately controversial, even among contemporaries.
Famous four horses, that are standing on the balcony up on the facade, are also taken from Constantinople.
When Napoleon beat Venice, he took these horses to Paris, which was a very embarrassing moment in the history. When Napoleon´s ruling ended, Venetians took horses back and proudly displayed these great bronze sculptures back in their place.
2. Galleria dell´Accademia
http://www.gallerieaccademia.it/
To experience amazing paintings, and also soft masterworks of pre – 19th – century era. The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery
of pre-19th-century art It was originally the gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, the art academy of Venice, from which it became independent in 1879, and for which the Ponte dell'Accademia and the Accademia boat landing station for the vaporetto water bus are named.
You can experience beautiful interiors, gold- decorated ceilings, historic wall paintings– frescos. In the giant rooms, you can walk around the works of Bellini, Canaletto, Carpaccio, Tiepolo, Tintoretto, and so much more.
It is possible to admire here paintings, that are showing Venice in the important historical moments, so you can imagine, how the place looked like before 300 years! And you will notice, that it has not been changed that much.
Seeing these paintings and beautiful spaces is uplifting, also it is not that big, so that also young audience can get a chance to be amazed.
3. Peggy Guggenheim Collection
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/default.html
Venice is not only Carnevale, water, gondolas, and Doge. It has also been a favorite place of 20th-century avant-garde artists! Thanks to the interest of Peggy Guggenheim, that lived in palace Pallazzo Venier Del Leoni on Canal Grande for more than three decades, many talents could flourish.
She was living the extravagant life, enjoying Venice during the early 20th century, also traveling a lot, having great contacts. She would also organize extravagant parties, where surreal and modern artists would appear. But what more, she was buying, collecting art, promoting people and helping artists to emerge.
She began displaying her private collection of modern artworks to the public seasonally in 1951.
For us, nowadays, names like Salvator Dalí, Picasso, Duchamp, Pollock are insanely famous. But what if these people did not have their rich customers, that would love and support their art?
Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a great place to see the artworks, but also to get understood, that Venice has been important cultural crossroad also in the 20th century. The collection includes works of prominent Italian futurists and American modernists working in such genres as Cubism, Surrealism and abstract expressionism.
Moreover, the palace is situated near Canal Grande, it has a beautiful garden, so it is a pleasant airy change from the tiny streets.
Text and artworks by Karolinska