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VENICE
Things to see - the city
Grand Canal
 This is the most important means of communication in the city. Almost four hundred meters long, thirty to seventy meters wide, it divides the historic center into two parts and is traversed via vaporetti and traditional gondolas.
Along its banks the most beautiful Venetian palaces from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century have been built. Departing from San Marco bridge, we can admire in succession the Gothic Ca’ Giustinian, the baroque church of S. Maria Della Salute, and the Venier dei Leoni Palace, headquarters of the famous Peggy Guggenheim art collection, containing works by Picasso, Klee, Kandinskij.
Crossing the Accademia Bridge, one of three that cross the Grand Canal, we find the Accademia Gallery, which holds a vast collection of Venetian painters from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Continuing on, we find the baroque Ca’ Foscari, which houses some University departments.
 On the opposite bank rises the classical-style Grassi Palace, exposition site for shows of national and international fame. Still farther, we can admire the Renaissance-style Corner-Spinelli Palace and the Grimani Palace.
We then arrive at the arcades of the celebrated Rialto Bridge (built between 1588 and 1592), which is situated halfway along the route of the Grand Canal.
Almost fifty meters long and seven meters high at water level, it is traversed by three sets of stairs.
After the Rialto Bridge, we meet the Ca’ d’Oro, one of the most beautiful monuments of Venice. Built in gothic style in the fifteenth century, it is now the seat of the Franchetti Gallery.
The baroque Ca’ Pesaro follows, with two levels of arcades, then the modern art gallery, the Renaissance palace Vendramin Calergi, where the German composer Richard Wagner died in 1883.
Next comes the oriental-style Turkish Foundation, headquarters of the Museum of Natural History, and finally, the Scalzi Bridge, the last one crossing the Grand Canal.
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