Venice hotel La Fenice Theatre - Venice hotels near to St Mark square - Venice hotel close to Venice theatre La Fenice - Venice hotels art galleries - hotels

Location



Leaving the hotel, to your left you may admire the Scuola di S. Girolamo, now the Ateneo Veneto, an institute for the study of Sciences and Humanities. Directly opposite it stands Venice's greatest theater, La Fenice. Presently under restoration after the latest 1996 fire, its elegance brings to mind Francesco Sansovino's description of Venice as the place "where each and every person can share in that abundant contentment that all mortals may desire" (F. Sansovino, Venezia città nobilissima e singolare). The theater was constructed, in only two years, by Antonio Selva in 1792.

Nearby beckon the Church of San Moisé and the Palazzo Contarini dal Bovolo. The church façade offers the spectacle of "the culmination of all architectonic follies" while the interior gives an idea of Mount Sinai (main altar) where Eternity hands over the Twelve Tables to Moses.
The Palazzo Contarini dal Bovolo, a Gothic construction dating from the 15th century, offers the view of a unique external spiral staircase in the form of a "Bovolo" or snail.
From San Moisé, walking past all the top high fashion stores, we come out into "the most beautiful salon in the world", St. Mark Square. In the backgound, the enchanting Cathedral and the Doge's Palace.

Saint Mark's Basilica. Shining with history, clad in its entirely gold mosaics, reflecting both religious and civic power. It reigns over the square with its Oriental domes, symbol of Venice's kindship with the East.
The Basilica was erected in devotion to the body of the Evangelist Saint Mark, as instructed by the Doge Giustiniano in his will in 829. One year earlier the body of Saint Mark had been transported to the lagoon from Alessandria in Egypt.

The Doge's Palace. This was the Doge's residence and housed the government and the State magistrature as well as the Prisons. We see it now in its restored state, completed between 1300 and 1500, after being ravaged by fires.
It offers a splendid example of fully flourished Gothic style in the Porta della Carta, which one passes through to reach the marvelous inner courtyard. Here illustrious builders such as Antonio Rizzo have left their mark, along with the Scala dei Giganti where the Doges were coronated.