Marcel Burger - Third time's the charm

Summer 2023, my first trip to Venice (Venezia). A long-standing wish fulfilled.

The old town of Venice is simply amazing. Strolling for hours in a row, and around each corner awaits another surprise. As for life on the streets, they are filled with people, but most of them tourists. The Venetian old town has lost more than ten thousand original inhabitants in the past decade, with as little as 50,000 natives still living there. I witnessed parts of the city turned into a ghost town at night, even the more central parts. Will Venice as a city survive, or will it be a theme park where people once lived. The curve is bending to the latter, unfortunately.

View at the San Giorgio Maggiore island, and a row of gondolas at Canal Grande, July 2023.

At Canal Grande, facing the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore

Transports of goods and to get from A to B by boat.

At and near San Marco square

The central hotspot of Venice is the Piazzetta San Marco (San Marco Square). Come early in the morning and you will have both light and space, before the hordes of tourists take hold of it.

The arched facade of the San Marco buildings, July 2023.

Early morning deliveries at San Marco Square

Sculptures at San Marco squareo.

Beautiful arched walkways near San Marco square.

Basilica di San Marco.

The waterside front of Palazzo Ducale.

Rio del Palazzo and the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs)

The larger San Marco and the Castello districts

Venice has six historical districts, with San Marco and Castello as the most popular ones for tourists. It has the square, but so much more that can only be truly discovered by gondola or walking a lot. For many of the following photos, I do not even know exactly where I took them, so not many captions to add apart from San Marco district, Venezia, July 2023.