Shapes

Piazza San Marco

How It's Used

“Pigeons in St. Mark’s Square, gondolas drifting down the Grand Canal, lovers kissing under the Bridge of Sighs—Venetian scenes have been reproduced in restaurants, banquet halls and hotels, most famously and elaborately in the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.”

"Go in the off-season: A no-brainer, really. Not only do you save money and have a better chance of getting a discount (because business is slow), but you get a more authentic experience. My best trip to Venice was one I took about 10 days before Christmas: No one travels the week before Christmas. The streets were empty except for Venetians doing Venetian things such as boatpooling their kids to school or gossiping in their mink coats and rain boots while sipping espresso at their local cafe. My worst memory of Venice is when I inadvertently showed up during the week of Carnival. Because of the wall-to-wall visitors, it took me almost two hours to cross St. Mark's Square. And everything was at least three times as expensive as usual."

"Venice: The Clock Tower on St. Mark's Square has finally opened, giving visitors a close-up look at the clock innards as well as expansive views of the square and beyond from the terrace. Unfortunately, you can only see it with a reservation-only guided tour (12 euros, includes Correr Museum). You can make the reservation in person at the Correr Museum, (011) 39 041 520 9070, www.museiciviciveneziani.it ."

"By Monday the city was knee deep under water, freakish winds pushing the high tide into the streets and piazzas, the worst flood here in two decades. Water buses couldn't dock because piers were submerged. A gray haze, the familiar Venetian mood music, shrouded everything. Someone rowed a boat across St. Mark's Square.

"There followed the predictable finger pointing by local politicians, who have battled for years over Moses, a $5.5 billion tidal barrier system for the lagoon that is supposed to be finished in 2010 at the earliest."

"In 1946 the painter John Craxton, who has died aged 87, had a show of haunted landscapes in Zurich. He sent a postcard home, saying that he might go on to Italy, but by the time it arrived he had landed in his eventual homeland of Greece. He had been spirited away by Lady Norton, wife of the British ambassador in Athens, who—as the opening shots of the Greek civil war rang out—was seeking provisions abroad in those straitened times in a borrowed bomber. John got the pilot to divert over Venice, where the plane dipped so low that pigeons scattered in St Mark's Square."

Also Known As (AKA)

St. Mark’s Square

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