Venezia Monumenti e luoghi d'interesse

Fulcrum of the city of Venice is St. Mark's Square, by definition the only one to merit the name of square: the other squares are in fact "campi" (fields) or "campielli" (little fields).

The Basilica of St. Mark's in the middle of the square, highly decorated and harmonious together with architecture, Western and Eastern art, tells the story of Venice, together with the frescoes and paintings by the greatest masters of the time; high quality marble items and incomparable bas-reliefs.

Mosaics from the refined Byzantine school with a golden base inside, and the four bronze horses of Constantinople as a cornice, are some of the details of this architectural marvel.

The Doge's Palace stands next to the Basilica.

Seat of Government of the Venetian Republic, it was built out of Istrian marble in the fifteenth century.

Now the Doge's Palace is a museum with works by the best Venetian artists. Not to be missed is the Grand Council Chamber, that for centuries was the biggest seat of government anywhere in the world, the Bridge of Sighs, the Dungeons and the Piombi prison.

In front of the Doge's Palace stands the bell tower of St. Mark's, the highest in Venice with its bells, the "marangone" kept time for the Venetians. It fell down at the beginning of the twentieth century and was built again from scratch very quickly.

Other important monuments in Venice are the Arsenale or dockyards, the biggest in Europe while the Venetian Republic ruled the Adriatic and Mediterranean, the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, of the Redentore, the basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the synagogues of the Ghetto and the Bridge of the Rialto.

(liberally taken from Wikipedia)