Venice is not only the Venetian symbol of Culture and Arts, but also the one of gastronomy. Venice cuisine comes from rural origins, but the trades with Far and Middle East, during the golden Age of the Repubblica have enriched the variety of its recipes. It can be said that Venice Republic played an important role for the enrichment not only in local cuisine but even in the european one,  because after the fall of Byzantium, Venice became  the Eastern Door. The most of european countries used to add spices in order to preserve the food, while Venice used spices to invent  new dishes and new tastes. When venetian galleons come back home after a very long trip were full of salt, pepper, ginger, curcuma,  candy and fresh nutmeg, galanga from India and even saffron from China: these spices unknown until that period were able to excite the fantasy of venetian cooks: in this way was born an art of cooking unique in the world.Venice acted for many centuries as “mediator of the Universe”, because it was a world market where you could find everything that was sendable in those years. The city had the trade monopoly on spices, taking advantage of western people’s desires. Venice became also the capital for sugar trading.

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An extraordinary tour of the Renaissance Tower enables visitors to get a close view of the clock mechanism; it ends on terraces which afford a magnificent view of St. Mark’s Square and the whole city. The tours, with an expert guide, have to be booked in advance.

Each tour is for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 12 people. They take place every day (except 25 December and 1 January) according to a fixed schedule.

Visit in English
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 10 am and 11 am; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 5pm

Visite en français
lundi, mardi, mercredi, à 13h, 14h, 15h et 17h;
jeudi, vendredi, samedi et dimanche à 9h, 10h et 11h.

Upon request, tours in these languages can be arranged at different times for those purchasing 12 admission tickets.
Ticket – Full Price
12 euro (including booking fee and expert guide)
Holders of this ticket get free admission to the Correr Museum, the State Rooms of the Biblioteca Marciana and the National Archaelogical Museum.

Booking: to know more click here

from september 28, 2007 to february 29, 2008
Museo Correr

The first exhibition in Italy to be dedicated exclusively to the theme, this offers a fascinating insight into both the history of art and the history of science.
Curated by Marica Milanesi and Rudolf Schmidt, the exhibition includes some 142 works from the Museo Correr, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana and various prestigious private collections; one of these latter is the important collection put together by Rudolf Schmidt himself, a member of the Internationale Coronelli – Gesellschaft fuer Globen- und Instrumentenkunde (International Coronelli Society for the Study of Globes and Scientific Instruments).
One of the high points of the show is the result of an exceptional discovery made within the Correr collection by Marisa Milanesi: the world’s only extant mounted example of a rare and precious sixteenth-century globe by the cartographer Livio Sanudo (1520-1576), which had previously been thought to have been lost. However, the main focus of the event is the Venetian friar Vincenzo Coronelli (1650-1718), who was a geographer, cartographer, inventor and publisher, as well as being one of the most famous globemakers of the seventeenth century. Both scientific instruments and wondrously-constructed machines, his globes would adorn the libraries of monasteries, scholars and sovereigns – usually in pairs (one a celestial, one a terrestrial globe).

2 September 2007 – 6 January 2008

The exhibition, curated by Paola Mola and Fabio Vittucci, will trace the rediscovery of the complex contemporary aesthetics of Medardo Rosso through sculptures, waxes, plasters, bronzes, photos and previously unpublished documents. The project has been realized in collaboration with the Museo Rosso in Barzio (Como), which houses the entire legacy of the sculptor’s works and archive, bequeathed in its entirety to his great-granddaughter, Danila Marsure Rosso. Rosso is a renowned artist, widely studied and firmly consolidated in the European scene of late 19th-century sculpture as a precursor of modernity. And yet Rosso remains unknown for the most significant part of his production. The systematic and detailed scrutiny of documents, papers and letters from the archive, instigated by Danila

 from 4th to 13th October

61 composers from around the world – Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, China, Korea, Japan, the United States and various European countries – with 17 commissions, 25 world premieres and 22 Italian premieres, will be the focus in Venice from 4th to 13th October for the 51st edition, directed by Giorgio Battistelli, of the International Festival of Contemporary Music from the Venice Biennale – chaired by Davide Croff.

The prestigious award for lifetime achievement, symbolised by the Biennale’s Golden Lion, will this year be assigned to Giacomo Manzoni. The prize is attributed “to the composer and intellectual of music who has spanned 50 years of activity, constantly exploring and renewing his language with an experimental approach stimulated by an intimate expressive need”. In homage, the Orchestra di Verona will perform the world premiere of La legge, an early work by the maestro.
An international jury will instead award the Golden Lion for music of the present, chosen from the music and musicians invited to the Festival.

The commissions for Made in Italy are joined by those for Claudio Ambrosini and Michele Dall’Ongaro, well-established

Famous all over the world for the glass-making art, Murano owes its secular prosperity to a 1291 decree that ruled that all glass factories (where fires could easily be started thus jeopardizing Venetians’ homes) would have to be moved to this island. The island, consisting of five main islets divided by a central canal known as Grand Canal, looks like Venice in miniature. The Canal is overlooked by noble palazzi that evoke the character of the island which soon became a holiday resort for the patricians of Venice. Unfortunately, little remains of the atmosphere that must have reigned in the past and Murano has been completely absorbed by the tourist industry. The narrow fondamenta are strewn with shops where you can buy glass souvenirs of any size, but if you are looking for something really original, we recommend that you go straight to the glass factories (most of them face the lagoon).

To savour the atmosphere of the island, get off the vaporetto at the first stop, Colonna, and walk along the Fondamenta dei vetrai. Shortly afterwards you will see, on your left, the church of S. Pietro Martire, rebuilt between the 15th and the 16th century…

Read More about Murano and download the our Free Venice Guide on-line

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Venice rises on an archipelago of about one hundred islets of different shapes and sizes separated by numerous canals (“rio”). The main one, overlooked by the most beautiful palazzi, is called Canal Grande. This s-shaped canal splits the city into two uneven parts. The tide alone is almost enough to clean up the canals (whose water, otherwise, would stagnate). In autumn and in spring it is often responsible for the phenomenon known as “Acqua alta” (High tide): St. Mark’s square and other areas of the city are completely flooded and pedestrian footways have to be provided. 
The city is divided into areas called SESTIERES (not the usual “quarters”) because they are 6, indeed: San Marco, Castello, Cannaregio, S. Croce, S. Polo e Dorsoduro.
There are about 400 BRIDGES. In the past they used to be made of wood and in such a way that horses could walk on them. It was only in 1486 that masonry bridges started to be built. Most of them were endowed with strong parapets. Only two are without this element: one in Cannaregio, on the fondamenta San Felice and the other, more famous, in Torcello (Ponte del Diavolo)…

For more informations about Venice download our Free Guide on-line (100 pag of usefull informations)

Tim Burton, master of macabre movies like “Corpse Bride” and “Edward Scissorhands”, was honored with a career award at the Venice film festival on Wednesday.

Organizers of the festival called Burton “one of America’s bravest, most visionary and innovative film-makers”.

“I’ve been to this festival a few times, and each time I’ve come here I’ve just had this very special feeling about it,” the 49-year-old, sporting his trademark dark glasses, told “You grow up in Hollywood and that whole scenario and what you feel here is that there is just passion about movies. So that’s what makes it special to me — it’s not about business, it’s not about finance, it’s about just the love of movies.”

Burton was handed a Golden Lion lifetime achievement award by Johnny Depp, star of many of his films, at a glitzy red carpet ceremony.

“He is a rare breed in today’s cinema,” said Depp, wearing a white tuxedo. “Beyond that he is a true original, a true artist, a true auteur. He’s my favorite director and friend.”

from reuters.com

Brad Pitt plays the fabled U.S. outlaw Jesse James in a new film, presented yesterday at 64.Venice Film Festival, based on the days leading to his death at the hands of young protege Robert Ford.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” has a long title and, at 155 minutes, is a long movie which is in the main competition at the Venice film festival and has its world premiere on Sunday.

The Hollywood star portrays James — a bandit and heroic Robin Hood figure to many during his life and long after his demise — as a man tired of life on the run, who foresees his end is nigh and appears to hasten his death as a way of escape.

“I saw it … as a guy who sensed impending doom, the inevitable end, who had been trapped in a facade and living an alias for so long and didn’t know a way around it,” Pitt told a news conference after a press screening.

“I find that more interesting, because it’s more human to me than this black and white characterization.”

How far would you go to get rich quick or clear a mountain of debt?That is the question Woody Allen asks in his dark new movie “Cassandra’s Dream“, starring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as working class London brothers desperate to get ahead in life.

“It’s simply a story of some very nice young people who get caught up, because of their weaknesses and because of their ambitions, in a tragic situation that they bring upon themselves,” Allen told reporters in Venice, where his picture is being presented at the annual film festival.

The Oscar-winning U.S. director returns to the theme of ruthless ambition and moral ambiguity which he explored in his 2005 film “Match Point”, and said “Cassandra’s Dream” reflected his view of life as a “tremendously tragic event”.