A third line plies from the Riva degli Schiavoni (dep. near the Ponte della Paglia, Pl. H, 5, 6) direct to the Lido, every 20–30 min. Ticket 15, return 25 c.; or, incl. adm. to bath-house 40 c., incl. bath 1 fr. 30 c.
Post Office. Fóndaco dei Tedeschi (Pl. G, 4; p. [421]), near the Rialto bridge, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; poste restante in the court, on the left.—Telegraph Office (Pl. G, 6; also branch post-office), Bocca di Piazza, behind the W. side of St. Mark’s Piazza.
Banks. Banca Commerciale Italiana, Via Ventidue Marzo 2188; Società Bancaria Italiana, San Marco, Bocca di Piazza 1239; Guetta (American Express Co.), Campo San Moisè; Thos. Cook & Son, see below.—Bookseller. Istituto Veneto di Arti Gráfiche, Piazza San Marco 40.
Tourist Agents. Thos. Cook & Son, Piazzetta dei Leoni 289 (N. side of San Marco); P. Faerber, in Hôt. d’Italie (p. [419]), also town-agent for the railway.
Steamboat Agents. North German Lloyd, Piazza San Marco 118; Hamburg-American (for winter pleasure-cruises by ‘Meteor’), P. Faerber, see above; Società Nazionale, Campo Morosini 2802; Austrian Lloyd, for the Venice and Trieste Line (p. [425]), in the Piazzetta (p. [423]); Hungarian Croatian Co., Thos. Cook & Son (see above).
Consuls. British, E. de Zuccato, Traghetto San Felice, Grand Canal.—United States Consul, J. V. Long, Campiello Querini Stampaglia 5257.
Churches. English (St. George’s), Campo San Vio 731; Presbyterian, Piazza of St. Mark 95.
One Day may suffice for a hurried glance, but a week or more should if possible be devoted to this unique city. Sail through the Grand Canal; inspection of the piazza and the church of St. Mark and the Doges’ Palace (p. [423]).—Of the Churches St. Mark’s (p. [423]) is open throughout the day, Santi Giovanni e Paolo (p. [424]) and Frari (p. [422]) save from 12–2 (adm. in the afternoon, till their restoration is completed, 50 c.). The Doges’ Palace is open on week-days, 9–3 (adm. 1 fr., or incl. visit to the Archæological Museum and the Prigioni 2½ fr.), on Sun. and holidays 10–2, free. Academy (p. [422]) on week-days 9–4 (adm. 1 fr.), on Sun. and holidays 10–2, free.
Venice, Ital. Venezia, once the most brilliant commercial city in the world, now a provincial capital, with 148,500 inhab., of whom one quarter are practically paupers, is a commercial and naval port. It lies 2½ M. from the mainland in the lagoons, a shallow bay 25 M. long by 9½ M. broad, separated from the Adriatic by narrow sandy strips of land (lidi). The city is built on piles, on 117 islets, and is intersected by over 150 canals, which are crossed by 378 bridges. The interior of the town consists of a labyrinth of narrow streets and lanes, some of them scarcely 5 ft. wide. The centre of traffic is the Piazza San Marco (‘la Piazza’), with the adjacent Piazzetta. The other open spaces are called campi or campielli. The local name for a street is calle or salizzada, and for a narrow canal rio.
The tribe of the Veneti, the ancient inhabitants of N.E.Italy, were of Illyrian race, but became Romanized in the 3rd cent. B. C. The havoc committed on the mainland by the barbarian Huns compelled the inhabitants of the coast to seek refuge in the islands of the lagoons, where in 697 they formed the Venetian League, headed by a doge (dux). In 811 Rivoalto (now Venice) became their capital. Aided by its close connection with the Byzantine Empire (p. [541]), the town rose to be a rival of Genoa in its important traffic between East and West. In its art also Venice was under Oriental influence throughout the middle ages. After the conquest of Constantinople by the great doge Enrico Dandolo in 1204, the lion of St. Mark laid his mighty talons on the coasts and islands of Greece and Asia Minor. On the Italian continent also the republic gradually extended its conquests to Bergamo.