Location: Venice
Top Things to do in Venice
Things to do in Venice, Veneto: The Best Libraries
With its gondolas, canals, amazing restaurants, and unforgettable romantic ambiance, Venice is definitely a city for one's bucket list. Waterfront palazzos, palaces, and churches make drifting down the Grand Canal feel like cruising through a painting. To really experience Venice you must go to the opera or to a classical music performance, nibble fresh pasta and pastries, and linger in the exhibit halls of an art gallery. Label lovers will drool over the high-end shopping in Piazza San Marco.
Restaurants in Venice
1. Charta
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
2. Museo Querini Stampalia
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 250 reviews
In the heart of Venice, near Piazza San Marco, is one of the most interesting cultural complexes in the city: Palazzo Querini Stampalia, the home of the Foundation of the same name created in 1868 by Count Giovanni.The Library, with around 340.000 volumes for public use, the Museum with its eighteenth century and neoclassical furniture, an area for temporary exhibitions and the new Auditorium designed by Mario Botta are housed there.
Reviewed By 227ianc - London, United Kingdom
A hidden gem in Venice, five minutes walk from the Palasso Grimaldi and roughly half way between Rialto and St Mark on a route tourists don't follow, the Fondazione Querini Stampalia is easy to miss even when you are in the square in front of it due to its discrete entrance from a bridge across the rio. The Foundation is a cultural institution founded in 1869 by Conte Giovanni (Count John), the last descendant of the Venetian Querini Stampalia family. Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, famous for his sensitive modern additions to historic buildings, designed modernist additions historic buildings to create a cultural complex which connects into the historic home of the Querini Stampalia family, displaying historic collections and supporting a variety of different activities and exhibitions. It also houses a loan collection from the Intesa Sanpaolo banking group. For the Biennale, modern art includes interventions and photographs by Roman Opalka in the historic rooms and a major exhibition of the work of the German painter Jorg Immendorff, while there is also an explanatory display on the Count and his library and modern art on display in Scarpa's ground floor spaces at the level of the rio. The admission charge allows admission to all the exhibition and museum areas, plus there is a cafe. There is much more to see than you might appreciate so plan to spend a serious amount of time in this fascinating complex.
3. Sale Monumentali della Libreria Sansoviniana
4. libreria Acqua alta
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,423 reviews
Reviewed By WaitForIttttt - Hazlet, United States
My husband and I visited Libreria Acqua Alta while visiting Venice for the first time. We're both avid readers and were excited to see a bookshop amidst the beauty of Venice. Libreria Acqua Alta captures the charm of Venice in bookstore form. The books are stacked in boats in the center of shelves of more books. There is a small door that leads to the canal and stacks of books you can climb outside to peer over into the canal. We spent a good amount of time wandering the shelves, which had books in Italian and many other languages (including English). My husband found a copy of one of his favorite books (from the Dragonlance series) in Italian and purchased it to add to our collection. If you love books, Libreria Acqua Alta is most definitely worth a visit while you're in Venice!
5. Libreria MarcoPolo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15 reviews
Bookstore of new and used books. Italian, english, french and german books. Bookexchange.
6. Scuola Grande di San Marco
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 196 reviews
Reviewed By asiyahnoemik - Pula, Croatia
Already from Calle Larga Giacinto Gallina we saw the outlines of the beautiful Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. From the last bridge leading to Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo overlooking the facade of Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the facade of the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo we were left breathless, in wonder. Standing in this place and enjoying the beautiful architectural masterpieces is a real privilege. Of course, the rich history of buildings in us evokes admiration and awe. Scuola Grande di San Marco is a Renaissance palace and the former seat of the Venetian confraternities in Sestiere Castello. The Great Brotherhood of San Marco was founded in 1260 and had its headquarters near the now demolished church of Santa Croce (next to Piazzale Roma in Papadopoulos Park). The Dominicans of the church of San Giovanni e Paolo near Castello ceded their land to the fraternity in 1437 to build their new headquarters. Construction work was led by Pietro Lombardo and Giovanni Buora, but the palace burned down in a fire in 1485. Work on the erection of the new and larger palace was entrusted to Mauro Codussi, who built it in 1505, and after that the palace was extended in 1523 towards the Rio dei Mendicanti canal, thanks to the occupation of the architect Jacopo Sansovino. The rich polychrome marble facade of the palace, with numerous reliefs, has an asymmetrical structure that reflects the internal division of space, with a saloon on the left and the so-called hotel lounge (sala dell’albergo) on the right. From the very beginning, the brothers of the School decided to limit the reconstitution of the cycles of paintings, leaving out the vast spaces of the Chapter Room, to dedicate every resource to the smallest walls of the Sala dell'Albergo with a cycle of six canvases dedicated to episodes of life of San Marco. The Hall became one of the most spectacular complexes of the Venetian Renaissance, an attraction for European scholars and experts, thanks to the works of Gentile Bellini ("Sermon of San Marco"), Giovanni Bellini ("The martyrdom of San Marco"), Giovanni Mansueti (" Healing of Aniano "and" Baptism of Aniano "), Paris Bordon (" The fisherman gives the ring to the Doge "), Jacopo Palma il Vecchio (" Saints Mark, George and Nicholas save Venice from the storm "). From 1807 Scuola was turned into a military hospital and it has remained for the entire time of the Austrian administration until today, when it operates as the city hospital Ospedale Civile SS. Giovanni e Paolo.
7. Archivio di Stato
8. Archivio storico del Patriarcato di Venezia
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 3 reviews
9. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 138 reviews
Reviewed By Mairwen1
You can only enter the Marciana Biblioteca by buying St Marks Museum Pass which includes the Doge’s Palace and Correr Museum (€25) or the Museums Pass (€35) To be honest the ticket is pretty confusing. I don't think it was just us! The ticket lists the Correr, the Marciana Biblioteca and the Archaeological Museum as if they are separate museums. At first I thought that we wouldn’t have time for all of them and would have to choose between them. In fact, they are all inside the Correr so you can see tham all at the same time. To add to the confusion, there’s no separate entry - you get to all three by going through the Correr Museum entry. Having said that, it is definitely worth doing. I loved the Biblioteca's grand halls. The attraction here are the marvellous ceilings and walls which are covered with paintings by all the great Venetian artists, Titian Tintoretto, Veronese. Even if Venetian art is not your thing, they are still impressive and there is so much else to see in other parts of the Correr or Archaeological museums (incl Napoleon’s Palace rooms, ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, works by Bellini, decorations from the Doge’s Palace, weapons & armoury and ship-building exhibits) TIPS: • Before you look at anything in the Biblioteca, grab one of the cards near the entry door. The cards are really helpful and have labelled pictures of each of the paintings so you can check out what you are actually looking at. • Look out for the elephant’s head – I’m not sure of its significance but it made a good photo. • As you leave this area, make sure you look at the Restoration room at the end. The glass walls let you see the restorers at work. They were working on one of the enormous globes when we were there. It was fascinating to see the untouched murky sepia brown colours of the globe transformed into brilliant brilliant blue seas and green • Bags, backpacks, umbrellas are not allowed but there is a free bag-room once inside • The café has the best view right down St Marks Square to the basilica – a perfect photo opportunity
10. Biblioteca San Francesco della Vigna
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1 reviews
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