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Venice’s fairytale cathedral is pure Byzantine in essence, while its façade and interior have been embellished with resplendent mosaics and exquisite works of art through the ages (see Basilica San Marco).

This was the powerhouse of the city’s rulers for nearly 900 years. Passing through a maze of rooms gives visitors an insight into the sumptuous lifestyle that so often accompanied state affairs (see Doge’s Palace).

This Mediterranean fresh produce market has enlivened this quayside since medieval times and is arguably still the best market in the world (see Rialto Market).

Escape the crowds in the city with a ferry ride over the vast expanse of the lagoon to this peaceful, lush island, the site of Venice’s original settlement (see Torcello).

The northern end of the Lido littoral, a key point in the Republic’s defence, used to be equipped with impressive naval fortifications and chains would be laid across the lagoon mouth as a deterrent to invaders. The historic Sensa celebration (see La Sensa) is held offshore from the church of San Nicolò, founded in 1044 and a former Benedictine monastery, now a study centre. One visitable site is the 1386 Jewish cemetery. Alternatively, take a 35-minute mini-cruise on the car ferry between Tronchetto car park and San Nicolò. Its high decks give great views all over Venice.

This massive Roman amphitheatre from the 1st century AD and measures almost 140 m (460 ft) in length. The arcades and 44-level tiered seating for 22,000 people, that once rang with the cries of gladiator fights, now echo with arias from operas during the popular summer festival. Verdi’s Aïda marked the inauguration in 1913, and is repeated every year.

A haven for artists, brightly painted houses, fish and lace-making are the pride of Burano. The islanders cherish an old legend about a faithful sailor who resisted the Sirens’ call and was rewarded with a magnificent veil of magical foam for his bride, later worked into lace, a trade that brought worldwide fame and fortune to the isolated fisherfolk. These days, although old women still strain their eyes with patient stitches, many articles are in fact imported from abroad. The island’s dramatically leaning bell tower is visible from afar.

Long synonymous with glassmaking, Murano developed blowing and fusion techniques to extraordinary heights in the 1500s, and so closely guarded were the trade secrets that skilled craftsmen could migrate only under pain of death. Though Venice’s glass monopoly lasted only until the 17th century, its fame lives on. A visit to the Glass Museum with its 4,000 exhibits is a must (see Museo dell’Arte Vetrario). Don’t be put off by the reps who invite tourists to see a furnace and showroom; it’s a unique opportunity to watch the glassblowers at work and is free of charge. However, if you accept a free boat trip from San Marco to a glass factory, you’re expected to make your own way back by vaporetto if you don’t buy anything. Glassmaking aside, Murano is a lovely place to wander around, with canals, alleyways and friendly islanders.

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).

A pleasant avenue now lined with cafés and a market, Via Garibaldi was triumphantly named when the eponymous general marched into Venice in 1866 as part of his round-Italy campaign for Unification. Take a stroll to the Giardini (public gardens). To make way for the park in 1807, architect Selva (see Giannantonio Selva) demolished four churches and convents and a sailors’ hospice.

Nowadays a modest square dotted with some low-key bars, its main attraction is a colourful moored barge loaded high with shiny fresh fruit and vegetables – a must for photographers. Its history has not always been so peaceful, however – the square used to be the arena for fierce rivalries between the city’s working class bands, the Nicolotti and Castellani, who would fight it out on the Ponte dei Pugni (see Ponte dei Pugni). On a more forgiving note, the rather nondescript church used to take in disgraced and bankrupt nobility.

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.

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.

This is by far the city’s most famous gondola repair and construction yard, though its active days may be numbered. The combined workshop-dwelling, its window sills clad with geraniums, is reminiscent of an Alpine chalet as the first occupants came from the mountainous Cadore region. Though closed to visitors, it backs on to a canal (Rio di San Gervasio e Protasio) so it’s easy to watch the goings-on as oar-propelled craft are brought in for caulking and cleaning.

Behind the palace’s beautiful Gothic tracery is a memorable column-filled courtyard paved with myriad coloured tesserae. Inside is the Galleria Franchetti, an enticing collection of paintings, sculptures, coins and ceramics donated to the State by Baron Giorgio Franchetti in 1916, together with the building. One highlight is Andrea Mantegna’s agonizing St Sebastian (1560) pierced by arrows “like a hedgehog”, in the portico leading through to a stunning loggia overlooking the Grand Canal. An ornate 15th-century staircase climbs to the second floor where there are huge 16th-century Flemish tapestries (see Ca’ Dario).

The sky-blue vault studded with gold stars in this glorious Paduan chapel seems to hover over Giotto’s vibrant frescoes narrating the lives of Mary and Jesus. The Florentine artist (1266–1337) was summoned by Enrico Scrovegni to work on the chapel in 1305–06, to atone for the sins of his late father, a moneylender. Especially noteworthy of the 38 distinct scenes is the Last Judgment on the entrance wall, with ranks of helmeted, haloed and shield-bearing angels. Book well in advance and be prepared to wait in the “decontamination” chamber before the 15-minute visit.

On the entrance portal of this lavishly decorated Baroque palace are carvings of writhing serpents, and Hercules is shown in the act of slaying the Hydra on the loggia. The masterpieces include 120 awe-inspiring Russian icons and 14 fascinating paintings by Pietro Longhi depicting scenes from 18th-century Venetian life and hanging in the frescoed “Room of the Four Continents”.

Tourists flock to “Juliet’s House”, the 13th-century presumed abode of the Shakespearean heroine. Complete with a pretty balcony (added in 1928...) the romantically inclined can imagine her uttering that immortal cry: “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” The courtyard walls are plastered with multilingual graffiti left by lovers from all over the world.

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).

Thronging with tour groups and packed with souvenir stalls, this quayside affords a lovely promenade past majestic palaces (now mostly hotels) and a much photographed 1887 monument to the first king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele. It is linked to Piazza San Marco by the elegant Istrian stone bridge Ponte della Paglia, named after the straw (paglia ) once unloaded from barges here. This is also the best place for taking pictures of the Bridge of Sighs. At the eastern end is the Ca’ di Dio (“house of God”), a 13th-century hospice for pilgrims en route to the Holy Land.

Blinding in the morning sun thanks to its cleansing face-lift, the early Renaissance façade of this historic building, home to masterpieces by Tintoretto, is a marvel of intertwined sculpted stone wreaths and crouching elephants dwarfed by admirable columns. The Istrian stone facing is embedded with a rainbow medley of burgundy porphyry and green and cream veined marble inserts. Designed by Bartolomeo Bon in 1517 and added to by Scarpagnino and other stone-masons, the imposing building with neighbouring church was home to one of the city’s foremost confraternities, honoured with an annual visit by the Doge.

Interior detail, Scuola Grande di San Rocco

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.

A Gothic interior with grandiose works of art lies in store behind this church’s brick façade (see Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari).