Italy: canals, frescoes & arcaded streets

Venice

Venice is built across more than a hundred small islands in a shallow lagoon, with canals serving as streets and boats in place of cars. The historic center fans out from St. Mark's Square along the great S-curve of the Grand Canal, crossed by the marble Rialto Bridge.

The city's monumental heart is St. Mark's Square, dominated by the Byzantine domes and gold mosaics of St. Mark's Basilica, the Gothic Doge's Palace and the freestanding Campanile, whose top opens a panorama over the rooftops and lagoon. The Grand Canal winds past faded palazzos in Venetian Gothic and Renaissance styles, busiest with vaporetto and gondola traffic and best surveyed from the Rialto and Accademia bridges.

Beyond the main routes, Venice fragments into quiet residential districts threaded by narrow canals and stone bridges, where laundry strings between windows and small squares open unexpectedly. The lagoon also holds outlying islands: Murano known for glassmaking, Burano for its rows of brightly painted fishermen's houses, and Torcello for its early Byzantine cathedral.

Where to take photos

• St. Mark's Square — the city's grand civic space framed by the basilica, palace and bell tower
• Grand Canal — the main waterway lined with historic palazzos, best from the Rialto and Accademia bridges
• Burano — a lagoon island known for rows of vividly painted houses along its canals
• Doge's Palace — a Venetian Gothic palace facing the waterfront, its tracery catching the morning light

Verona

Verona sits on a bend of the Adige River in the Veneto, layered with Roman, medieval and Renaissance remains. Its centerpiece is the Arena, a 1st-century Roman amphitheater that still hosts large open-air opera performances each summer.

The Arena anchors the broad Piazza Bra and remains remarkably intact, its tiers of pink-and-white limestone seating tens of thousands. From there, marble streets lead to the Piazza delle Erbe, a former Roman forum lined with frescoed facades and market stalls, and to the medieval Scaliger family's tombs and battlemented bridges over the river.

The city is closely associated with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and a much-visited courtyard with a balcony draws crowds near the central streets. For wider views, the Castel San Pietro hill on the far bank looks back across the river to the rooftops, towers and the curve of the Adige, especially fine in the late afternoon.

Where to take photos

• Verona Arena — a well-preserved Roman amphitheater on Piazza Bra, still used for summer opera
• Piazza delle Erbe — a frescoed market square on the site of the former Roman forum
• Castel San Pietro — a hillside terrace with sweeping views over the river and old town
• Ponte Pietra — a Roman-era stone arch bridge spanning the Adige, lovely at dusk

Bologna

Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna, is famed for its terracotta-toned medieval center, its leaning towers and nearly forty kilometers of covered porticoes that shelter its streets. Home to the oldest university in the continuous Western world, it has a youthful, working character alongside its history.

The city's porticoes, a UNESCO World Heritage feature, line street after street in brick and stone, including the long covered walkway that climbs to the hilltop Sanctuary of San Luca above the city. At the center, the vast Piazza Maggiore is framed by the unfinished facade of the Basilica of San Petronio, the Palazzo d'Accursio and the Fountain of Neptune.

Two medieval towers, the taller Asinelli and the leaning Garisenda, rise above the rooftops as the city's emblem, with a climb up the Asinelli rewarded by a view over a sea of red roofs. Bologna is also a recognized center of Italian cuisine, surrounded by the food-producing towns of the Emilian plain.

Where to take photos

• Two Towers — the medieval Asinelli and leaning Garisenda towers rising over the old center
• Piazza Maggiore — the main square framed by the Basilica of San Petronio and civic palaces
• Portico di San Luca — a long covered walkway of arches climbing to a hilltop sanctuary
• Quadrilatero — a dense grid of market lanes and food stalls beside the main square

More guides to explore

Bologna, Italy

Bologna Travel Guide: Towers, Porticoes & the Best Food in Italy

Western Europe

Western Europe: light, stone, and centuries of craft

The Mediterranean Coast

the Mediterranean Coast: turquoise water, ancient stone, and golden light