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VENICE

Five ‘secret’ places in Venice you need to visit

Venice’s most popular sights can get hopelessly crowded in high season, but there are some hidden attractions where you can escape the tourist crush.

Published: 15 June 2023 17:06 CEST
Updated: 25 June 2023 09:33 CEST
Dawn in Venice
St Mark's square, the Doge's Palace (left) and the church of San Giorgio Maggiore (rear) captured as the sun rises over Venice. Photo by Marco SABADIN / AFP

With its artistic grandeur and spellbinding atmosphere, Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy.

But, as in the case of all other major art cities in the country, its most popular attractions tend to get extremely crowded during the warm months, with their congestion issues being nearly as famous as their artworks.

Luckily, if you’re not a fan of long queues and packed tours, Venice has no shortage of hidden gems which generally attract smaller numbers of visitors but are just as enjoyable as some of the more popular sights.

Marvel at the largest canvas in the world in Saint Pantaleon’s Church

As ordinary as it may look from outside, Saint Pantaleon’s Church, in the southeastern Dorsoduro district, is anything but on the inside. 

The 17th-century building, whose facade was never completed, is home to prestigious works by Renaissance painters including Paolo Veronese and Paolo Veneziano.

But the church’s most remarkable feature lies overhead as a 443-square-metre canvas depicting the martyrdom of Saint Pantaleon covers the entire ceiling.  

The painting – Gian Antonio Fiumani’s magnum opus – is to this day the largest decorated canvas in the world.

Enjoy the breathtaking view from San Giorgio Maggiore’s bell tower

The bell tower of Saint Mark’s Basilica (commonly known as Campanile di San Marco) is generally considered the best place to get a panoramic view of Venice and the surrounding lagoon. But, unbeknownst to many, the world-famous campanile has a worthy rival in town. 

Standing 75 metres tall, the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore church offers a 360-degree vista of the city that’s just as impressive as the view from its popular local brother. 

READ ALSO: TRAVEL: Why Venice is named among Europe’s cheapest city break destinations

And while the San Giorgio bell tower cannot be reached on foot – a five-minute water bus journey from San Zaccaria will take you there – waiting times to get to the top are generally very short.

Explore the city’s Jewish neighbourhood 

Located in the northern Cannaregio district, away from the most popular tourist routes, Venice’s Jewish neighbourhood (still known locally as ghetto ebraico, or ‘Jewish ghetto’) is one of the most evocative places in town as it encapsulates over 500 years of history and tradition.

The area, which is where the city of Venice forced Jewish residents to live from the early 16th to the late 18th century, is to this day the fulcrum of the local Jewish community, with family-run shops and kosher restaurants lining its streets.

The district is also home to Venice’s Jewish Museum and five historic synagogues, all of which are open to visitors.

Relax on the San Francesco nel Deserto island

While you may know about Burano and its colourful houses, San Francesco nel Deserto, just south of Burano, is largely overlooked by locals as well as international visitors. 

Named after Saint Francis, who spent a long period of meditation on the island after his return from the Holy Land, San Francesco nel Deserto is an oasis of peace and tranquillity that has no parallel in the Venetian lagoon.

Known for its cluster pine and cypress groves, the island is also home to a Franciscan monastery, which is open to visitors most days of the week.

Squeri: behind the scenes of gondola-making

You may be well familiar with the sight of black gondolas gliding over the calm waters of Venice’s canals, but do you know how the landmark boats are made and who makes them? 

You can find out by visiting a local squero, a traditional boatyard where experienced shipwrights and their apprentices use as many as eight different types of wood to build the flat-bottomed vessels.

READ ALSO: Nine ways to get into trouble while visiting Venice

The San Trovaso and Tramontin squeri are both open to visitors, though all visits must be booked in advance. After all, you wouldn’t want to disrupt the workflow, would you?

Bonus item: Artsy grocery shopping at the local Despar 

Though it couldn’t possibly be classed as a tourist attraction, this Venetian branch of the popular Despar supermarket chain is guaranteed to give you a rather unique (and artistic) grocery shopping experience. 

Located in the Cannaregio district, the supermarket sits inside a former cinema. But it’s not exactly an ordinary cinema we’re talking about here, as its walls and ceilings are embellished by frescoes and stucco decorations.

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TOURISM

MAP: The parts of Italy getting the most tourism in 2024

New research has pinpointed the most over-touristed Italian cities in 2024; and beyond the usual suspects, there are some surprises.

Published: 30 May 2024 10:55 CEST
MAP: The parts of Italy getting the most tourism in 2024

When Italy’s tourist numbers returned to post-pandemic levels a couple of years ago, there was widespread relief – but the mood quickly soured, as locals complained of being pushed out of their homes to make way for holiday lets.

It’s no secret that Italy has struggled to manage its tourist inflows in recent months, with some key hotspots becoming increasingly overwhelmed by visitors.

READ ALSO: Venice starts charging day-trippers €5 in bid to tackle mass tourism

Now new findings from Rome-based research institute Demoskopika shed light on the most overtouristed parts of the country; and while some destinations come as no surprise, others are more unexpected.

According to Demoskopika’s Comprehensive Tourist Overcrowding Index, Rimini – a seaside town in Emilia Romagna popular among Italian holidaymakers – is Italy’s most overcrowded province, followed by Venice.

Bolzano, Trento and Verona, in northeast Italy, all have ‘very high’ levels of tourist overcrowding, along with Naples and Livorno on the Tuscan coastline.

Areas with ‘high’ levels of overcrowding include Milan, Florence and Rome, alongside Forlì-Cesena and Ravenna in Emilia Romagna, Grosseto in Tuscany, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia in Liguria, Aosta, and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in Piedmont.

READ ALSO: Has Florence really been ‘crushed’ by mass tourism?

The parts of the country suffering the least from overtourism are concentrated in the south, with Benevento and Avellino in Campania, Rieti in southern Lazio, Reggio di Calabria, Isernia in Molise and Enna in Sicily at the bottom of the list.

Demoskopika’s overall index is based on five criteria: the number of tourists and hotels/holiday rentals per square mile; the ratio of tourists to residents; how booked up tourist accommodation is; and the share of municipal waste attributable to the tourism sector.

READ ALSO: The Italian tourist destinations bringing in restrictions this summer

“Overtourism not only threatens the sustainability of our most beloved destinations, but also risks compromising the experience for visitors and the quality of life for residents, said Demoskopika President Raffaele Rio.

“It is essential to implement tourism management policies that include time and number limitations for accessing the most at-risk places, along with strategies to promote alternative destinations that are less well-known but equally rich in culture and beauty.”

“It is time to act with awareness and responsibility, to ensure that tourism continues to be a source of cultural enrichment and economic development without becoming a burden for future generations.”

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