Piazza San Marco is the most famous and most central point of Venice. Everyone who has come here in the past 1000 years or so has visited this place. It was once famously called “the drawing room of Europe”, but Venetians simply call it “the Piazza". It has been the site of much elegance, drama and history. State visits of popes and emperors, public executions, religious processions, and of course, Carnival - the Piazza is where all that is grand has happened in one of the world's grandest cities, and in our tour you will hear her stories.

Campo San Salvador has a tall marble column in the middle of the square. The column was set up here in 1898. It commemorates the 17-month Venetian revolt against the Austrian occupation of Venice in 1848 and 1849.

"Teatro Comunale Carlo Goldoni" is named for Carlo Goldoni, a Venetian playwright of the 1700's. He wrote many comedies in the Venetian dialect which were revolutionary for their time. He made his characters seem like real people, affectionately highlighting the quirks of ordinary Venetians.

Many famous operas had their first performance at La Fenice, including "Rigoletto" and "La Traviata." La Fenice is still one of the most important opera houses in Italy.

Palazzo Cavalli is where all civil marriage services are conducted. It also houses the offices of the Centro Maree, or Tide Center. This is where all monitoring of data concerning tides and weather goes on, and where the daily predictions of the tide are made, especially regarding high tide, or acqua alta.

The Rialto Bridge is the third one of it's kind. Earlier Rialto bridges were made of wood. They were bascule bridges, which means the center part could be raised to allow ships with masts to pass through.