A palace in white Istrian stone nestling on the water… Its vertical development seems to have been disrupted, or rather, it has always been like this. It is Ca’ Venier dei Leoni, for everybody, Peggy Guggenheim’s palace. Its ever-unmistakeable image has become iconic by now, just like that of its last owner, the eccentric American collector, the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim (who died on the Titanic in 1912).

Distinguished by a social fabric still full of the spontaneity often erased by extensive tourist footfall, Burano, like the other islands in the lagoon, is a pleasant and relaxing destination nowadays. Its throbbing heart is the Baldassare Galuppi Square (named after a well-known composer born on the is-land) where the church and characteristic leaning bell-tower may be found, and from where little crafts shops and enticing trattorias spread outwards. Once the visit is over, one may embark in the direction of another true gem of the lagoon, the island of Torcello, once the ancient capital of the lagoon. Here, one may admire the relics of what used to be a large town and of the last buildings that have withstood the brunt of history: the cathedral, the church of Santa Fosca, the mediaeval tower, the Devil’s bridge and finally, what legend has handed down to us as Attila’s throne. On Ferragosto day (15 August), the Assumption Fête, the most important event of the year, takes place in Torcello.

Summer, the full season, has finally arrived. A festive, holidaying desire, is perceived in the air, just as that feeling

“May you live in interesting times”… is how the Biennale is inviting us, or perhaps, even better, wishing us to

…“So, along with the contemporaneity of what exists, there is the contemporaneity of what has existed and continues to live.” 

A stylised red rosebud on the paving in Saint Mark’s Square. It is the symbolic image we have chosen for

This too is Venice: a sprinkle of snow along the quay of Saint Mark, the reflection of a languid ray

Venice, as we know, was born and lives on water, a symbiosis that makes her appear a unique city worldwide.

Veduta della Basilica della Salute di Venezia, un opera di Baldassarre Longhena voluta dal Doge Nicolò Contarini per intercedere con la Vergine Maria affinché ponesse fine al flagello della peste

An absolute masterpiece – “Susanna and the elders” – is opening this issue in October. It is the tribute we

An iconic image is opening this issue of A Guest in Venice. A woman seems to be springing aloft to reach

Indeed, everything or almost in town speaks of architecture, and Venice is truly, of course, the city of architecture, although

A palace that appears to be emerging from water, its facade decorated with unmistakeable floral Gothic, an unmarred sign of