Canals, art dominate Venice visit

Founded in a lagoon more than 1,500 years ago as a haven from barbarians, today's Venice is Europe's best-preserved big city that thrives on the tourist industry.

Comprised of 100 islands linked together by 400 bridges, the greater Venice area is home to about 500,000, with approximately 70,000 people residing in the island city of old-town Venice.

Well known for its canals and gondolas, getting around in Venice can often be an adventure, as well as an exercise in frustration. Street addresses are confusing and useless, so navigating by landmarks is the recommended choice.

Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) is a hodgepodge of souvenir shops, classic boutiques, offices of the republic and elegant cafes with outdoor orchestras performing for the tourists and locals who assemble in the square. In a hard rain, Piazza San Marco is the first place in Venice to flood.

St. Mark's Basilica, located at the open end of Piazza San Marco, has housed the bones of St. Mark since A.D. 830, when they were smuggled into Venice by opportunist Venetians. Inside, the church has more than 4,000 square meters of mosaics that tell the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah and the Ark.

To the right of the Basilica stands the Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace, the former seat of the Venetian government and home of its ruling duke, or elected-for-life doge. The palace was built to showcase the wealth and power of the Venetian republic. Across a small canal stands the former prison, connected to the Doge's Palace by the Bridge of Sighs, named for the sighs heard from the bridge as the sentenced prisoners passed through on their way to serve their sentence or to be tortured.