Venice

You will admire:

• The lagoon islands: (between 10 and 100 minutes by boat from here) some of the itineraries on offer, which we highly recommend to be included on the visitor's list, are trips to the islands scattered around the lagoon which can be reached at Treporti on ferry boat nr. 12 (time table available at Reception) or with organized tours from P. Sabbioni.
• Lio Piccolo and Mesole: a pleasant 3 hour excursion on the Venetian lagoon. If you leave from our Center by car, or better by bike, you will admire the true lagoon's colour in a world of silence and fish valleys.
• Murano: it has many churches worth visiting. Santi Maria e Donato church, one of the oldest in the lagoon, is particularly interesting.
• Torcello: anyone particularly interested in its origins should pay a visit to the island of Torcello towards the northern end of the lagoon. It was once an important centre although there are only a few houses scattered around the green orchards and fields along with incredible churches - Santa Fosca and the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.
• Burano: also dominated by a large church and tall bell tower, Burano lives principally by its fishing and embroidery industries. It is one of the main centers of old fashioned lace making techniques, yet another of the skills in which Venetian craftsmen excel.
• S. Lazzaro degli Armeni: the isle where the Armenian fathers settled at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It became a very successful cultural centre, housing many works of art and a flourishing bookbinder's establishment, still operative today. Boatsline 20 from S .Zaccaria.
• S. Francesco del Deserto: its past is connected, as the name suggests, to that of the famous monk. It is said that he stopped here in 1220 on his return from an attempt to reach Palestine. How could the peacefulness, charm and poverty of the island not find its namesake in this saint?
• Lido: past destination of the Dogal procession in the annual symbolic celebration of the marriage of Venice with the sea. The municipal Casino stays open from April to October, and is also responsible for artistic and theatrical exhibitions and shows. Each year the International Film Festival is held in the Palazzo del Cinema here. This excursion can be done by bike too, crossing by ferry from Lido to Pellestrina and from there to Chioggia. At the Lido there's also a very good golfcourse (information and reservation at the reception).

In the province of Venice

• Chioggia: on the furthest edge is the opening where the lagoon joins the sea through which the fishing boats pass when they leave its port. Chioggia's apparent links with Venice, made obvious through its vast cathedral along with all the other churches and many "palazzi", suggest a predomination of Venetian tastes and styles, although, in other ways, it is very diverse and unique. This similarity no doubt derives from its close ties with Venice leading to the same architects and painters working in both places.
• The Brenta Riviera: the Venetians also often chose to spend their holidays in the much-loved tranquility of the countryside, already familiar to them through the farming activity to which many aristocrats had turned. The land giving onto the Brenta was the most popular area on account of its being the closest and most easily accessible place from Venice - the river itself having been suitably canalized to enable easy transportation. During the eighteenth century, when country holidays were particularly fashionable, a boat called Burchiello traveled regularly up and down the Brenta from Venice to Padua, and vice versa. This same itinerary is still followed today by a boat, and the same villas are still visitable.