DK Travel : Venice : Places of interest

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Farmacia Ponci

The “Casa degli Speziali”, the oldest pharmacy in Venice, carries on its business in modern premises alongside its restored 16th-century rooms. Displayed on original briarwood shelving adorned with Baroque statues in Arolla pinewood, are rows of 17th-century porcelain jars for medicinal ingredients; for safety reasons poisons were kept in a rear room. Pharmacies were strictly regulated and totalled 518 in 1564, the year their guild was formed.
Feeding the Pigeons

Scattering feed to the birds in Piazza San Marco (see Piazza San Marco) while Mum and Dad immortalize you on video is a must for young visitors. Bags of corn are hawked by sellers, but the birds eat anything.
Ferry Trips

Restful for adults, exciting for youngsters, the varied boat lines are an ideal way for families to appreciate the joys of the city. Get older children to plan trips on the route maps but avoid the outside seating on the vaporetto with toddlers. For an extended trip, take the majestic double-decker motonave over to Lido and Punta Sabbioni (see Island Boat Fares).
Fondamente della Misericordia and degli Ormesini

Parallel to the Strada Nova but worlds away from the tourist bustle, these adjoining quaysides have a real neighbourhood feel. There’s a good sprinkling of osterie (wine bars) alongside Mexican and Middle Eastern restaurants, a continuation of former trade links: the word “ormesini ” derives from a rich fabric traded through Hormuz, now in Iran, and imitated in Florence and Venice. Ormesini leads into Misericordia and to the towering red-brick Scuola Grande building. Currently closed for restructuring, it served as the city’s basketball team headquarters for many years.
Fondamente Nuove

This lagoon-side pavement, opposite the cemetery island of San Michele (see San Michele), is an important jumping-off point for ferries to the northern islands and sports one of the city’s rare petrol stations. The ample quaysides were not constructed and paved until the mid-1500s; until then the waterfront reached back to Titian’s garden (No. 5113, Calle Larga dei Botteri) allowing him unobstructed views of the Alps on a clear day, which delighted this native of Cadore.
Giardino Papadopoli

A leafy haven of twittering sparrows and flowerbeds close to Piazzale Roma and the car parks, these French-designed gardens date back to the 1800s when extravagant parties for the nobility were held here among exotic flowers and rare animals. Site of a demolished convent, it belonged to Corfu-born entrepreneurs, hence the Greek name. The public park was greatly reduced in size when the Rio Novo canal was excavated 1932–3.
Giudecca

An S-shaped slice of land facing the sun-blessed Zattere, this residential garden island was first known as “Spina longa” for its fishbone form. It was renamed either after an early Jewish community, or the giudicati (radical aristocrats) exiled here. Renaissance artist Michelangelo spent three peaceful years here in voluntary exile from 1529. Much later it became an important industrial zone with shipbuilding and the immense Molino Stucky flour mill (see Molino Stucky). Usually quiet and neighbourly, it comes to life with a vengeance for the mid-July Redentore festivities (see Festa del Redentore).
Glassmaking Demonstrations

Magic moments are guaranteed as children are transfixed by skilful craftsmen blowing blobs of molten glass into fine vases, or moulding coloured rods into myriad animal shapes. Small workshops are dotted all over Venice, while Murano has more large-scale furnaces – demonstrations are free, on the condition you stroll through the showroom afterwards (see Murano).
Hotel Danieli

An enchanting 15th-century palace with a pink Gothic façade set on the magnificent water-front near Piazza San Marco. After a string of aristocratic proprietors, it was taken over in 1822 by Joseph da Niel, who turned it into a hotel with an illustrious guest list, including Dickens, Wagner and Ruskin. In the 1940s an annexe was added amid great controversy – since 1102 no dwelling over one floor had been allowed on the site. The redeeming feature of the new wing is the roof restaurant (see Hotel Danieli).
Jewish Ghetto

The word “ghetto” originated in Venice, derived from getto (casting) due to an old iron foundry here. As of 1492 many Jewish refugees reached Venice after expulsion from Spain and in 1527 they were obliged by law to move to this area. Subject to a curfew to prevent their fraternizing with local women, they slept behind locked gates, their island circled by an armed patrol boat. Waves of arrivals saw each language group build its own synagogue (five in all) and raise the lowceilinged buildings to seven floors in height. Today 33 Jews still live in the ghetto, while a further 450 reside in other parts of the city. The synagogues can be visited with a guide and there’s a museum of sacred objects.