Venicescapes' privately guided historical tours of Venice offer a unique, comprehensive picture of the world's most extraordinary city. Conceived and developed only after years of meticulously studying the many political, economic, social, and religious forces that came together to create the city, these content-rich educational tours provide scholarly insights and a wealth of fascinating information that simply aren't available in standard guide books or guided tours and give the intellectually curious traveler the unique opportunity to go beyond the clichés and urban legends and discover a Venice of far-reaching historical and cultural relevance.
Rather than visiting random, disconnected sights, these seven guided tours have been carefully designed to focus on specific themes or eras in Venice's eventful history, thus providing the context and perspective necessary not only to enjoy the incomparable artistic and architectural masterpieces to their fullest but to relate the individual sights to one another and to overarching historical trends that show Venice’s place and importance in the greater world. They are consequently the ideal way to explore and understand Venice and transform a standard visit into a culturally enriching educational opportunity. Even more, since each walking tour is privately guided in order to favor dialogue and interaction, every sight and point of interest becomes a direct and personal experience that will be long remembered.
For a greater appreciation of the unique nature and unmatched quality of these historical tours of Venice, read reviews and find answers to frequently asked questions.
Story of a Mercantile Empire
history, architecture, and
urban development
Barbarians, crusaders, pirates, popes, emperors, and saints all take part in an exciting story filled with internal conflicts, deadly plagues, and distant wars. In a sweeping historical chronology, you’ll relive over 1000 eventful years while winding through the picturesque streets of Venice and visiting some of its major monuments and lesser-known sights: the gondola building yard where master craftsmen still use time-honored construction techniques, the magnificent merchant homes along the Grand Canal, the shipyards of the famed Arsenal, and the splendid baroque Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute among others. This is truly a must-do for anyone looking to discover how and why the major events that shaped the story of Venice affected the world-famous city of today: its lifestyle, culture, architecture, and art.
A Most Serene Republic
constitution and government
Relive Venice’s tumultuous early period when doges were blinded or overthrown in an attempt to gain control of a commercially rich Byzantine province and witness the full flowering of the mercantile aristocracy that once ruled the world’s wealthiest trading nation and mightiest sea power. Through the gilded halls and dark prisons of the Doge’s Palace, you’ll discover the inner workings of Venice’s remarkable government: the ingenious electoral systems, the controls to prevent intrigue, and the penalties for corruption and abuse of power.
A City of Nations
foreigners and immigrants
Cross over ancient thresholds and enter into strange and exotic worlds hidden in the very heart of the Mediaeval and Renaissance city. From the golden, oriental splendors of the Greek and Armenian churches and the solemn, dimly lit Dalmatian school to the once frenetic trade centers of the Germans and Turks and beyond to the quaint shops and richly decorated synagogues of the first Jewish Ghetto in history, you’ll experience a completely different, cosmopolitan Venice and hear about the people who came to the city in search of fortune, about the difficulties they faced, and about the role they played in the shaping of Venice and the Venetian culture.
The Splendors of Piety
renaissance art and religious life
Penetrate the aura of the sacred places created for the glory of God and the prestige of the State to discover how the city's greater artists responded to the call of faith and fame and created the incomparable works of religious art renowned throughout the world. Inside the imposing, fourteenth-century churches of the Dominican and Franciscan friars and the magnificent meeting hall of the charitable confraternity of Saint Roch, the flowing, vibrant colors of Titian, the violent shadows and dramatic light of Tintoretto, and the aristocratic elegance of Veronese all await you in a world of contradiction where piety and ambition contrast in an ongoing quest for divine favor and the everlasting glory of man.
Custodian of Wisdom
education and intellectual life
Enter the fascinating world of Renaissance education where humanist teachers work hand-in-hand with the ruling aristocracy to intellectually prepare young nobles for government and forge temperate and stalwart rulers in emulation of the heroes and legislators of Antiquity. Within the Biblioteca Marciana, Venice’s library of classical knowledge, esoteric symbols and scenes of pagan myths all serve to remind young boys to study with diligence so that they can one day govern wisely and perpetuate through their actions the ideal of the virtuous noble – the devoted servant of the Republic and of the public good.
The Art of Salvation
painting and theology of the Catholic Reformation
Step into an age of inquisitors, heretics, and reformers and into a city plagued by ongoing war and commercial decline. As the tide of Protestantism rises, a weary Venice and a besieged Catholic Church join forces to ensure civic harmony and defend traditional values and teachings. In this conflicting world of repression and renewal, of reaffirmation and reformation, painting bows to religious dogma, and Tintoretto, Veronese, and Palma Giovane create their celebrated masterworks to impassion the faithful and invoke the ultimate triumph of Catholic spirituality.
The Age of Decadence
life in the eighteenth century
Revel in the waning days of Venice when frivolity and immorality reigned supreme and art and literature concealed rumblings of political discontent. The lavish rooms of Ca' Rezzonico, filled with the treasures of eighteenth-century Venetian art, the world-famous coffeehouses of Saint Mark's Square, the ornate church of Santa Maria del Rosario, and the private casinos and theaters of the decrepit aristocracy swept away by the ideas of the French Revolution all form the opulent stage for a world of hypocrisy and folly. Against the backdrop of distant political and social upheavals, masked merrymakers, gamblers, and courtesans blissfully act out the final scene as the curtain slowly descends on Venice's millenarian civilization.
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