DK Travel : Venice : Editor's choice

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Calle del Paradiso

Though slightly lop-sided, a delicately sculptured 15th-century arch representing the Virgin and her devotees never fails to delight. The attractive alley is lined with medieval-style timber overhangs.
Campiello del Remer

This delightful square faces the Grand Canal and took its name from the local oarmakers. It boasts several Byzantine features, notably the wellhead of Verona stone and pointed ogee arches from a 13th-century palace.
Campo della Celestia

Now a tranquil residential square, in the 13th century it saw plenty of action when the sisters of a Cistercian convent gained a riotous reputation. Under Napoleon an archive of city affairs took over the building.
Campo della Maddalena

Unchanged since medieval times, this lovely raised square often doubles as a film set. Its modest houses are topped with chimneys in varying styles.
Can you drink water from the drinking fountains?

Yes, it’s the same as the tap water and subject to constant testing and treatment. Until 1884, when the supply piped from the mainland was inaugurated with a fountain in Piazza San Marco, the city depended on rainwater which was meticulously drained and collected in cisterns beneath squares equipped with locked covered wells.
Cats

The city’s feline population is pampered and fed by affectionate Venetians.
Celestia to Bacini

A lengthy atmospheric walk-way in a somewhat neglected zone of Castello, fronting the lagoon. The path clings to the wall of the ancient Arsenale shipyards (see Arsenale), and leads to a cluster of workers’ dwellings.
Cloister of Sant’Apollonia

Venice’s only authentic Romanesque cloister has a courtyard with twin-columned arcades, now part of a church museum.
Cormorants

Hundreds of elegant jet-black waterfowl inhabit the lagoon, to the chagrin of the fishermen.
Corte del Duca Sforza

A picturesque courtyard opening onto the Grand Canal, it was named after the duke of Milan who took over a partially constructed palace here in 1461. However, work did not go much further than the diamond-point ashlar on the façade. The artist Titian used it as a studio when working on the Doge’s Palace.