At the cathedral end of the Old Proeuratie iv a curious clock tower, built in 1496, and forming the portal over the entrance to the busy Alerceria. On its top, in the open, are two bronze colossi which strike the hours on a large bell. The royal palace is interesting for the section which formerly contained the library, a superb edifice, the work of Sansovino, facing the Piazzetta. It is distinguished by the colonnades and columns, the lighter Ionic gracing the upper part. The caryatides, metopes. and, in the fine interior, the ceiling frescoes by Venetian masters, fix the at tention. At the corner of the library rose the famous Campanile of \villa fell July 14, 1902. It was a detached square structure, 322 feet high. Its origin is traced back to 888. A new one 1611 rise in its place. In front of the cathedral stand three ancient splendid pedestals the masts of which formerly bore the colors of the Republic. Adjaeent, on the north side of Saint Mark's, is the tomb, supported by lions, of Manin, President of the Ilepnblie of 1848. On the front gallery of Saint Mark's stand the four beautiful gilded bronze horses ascribed to Nero's triumphal arch in Rome. They were carried off by Napoleon to Paris, but restored in 1815. On the south side of the cathedral, in the Piazzetta, are two ancient square pilasters with Greek inscriptions, which have stood here since the middle of the thirteenth century. The Pietra del Bando is near, a block of porphyry whence the decrees of the Remit)lie were announeed. At the, opposite end of the Piazzetta rise the two granite columns brought from the Orient in 1180, surmounted by figures of Saint Theodore on a crocodile and the \Vinged Lion of Saint Mark.
The interior of Saint Mark's (q.v.) is chiefly memorable for its wonderful mosaics. The Doge's Palace (q.v.) holds many of the finest pictures in Venice. In the rear of the palace, and crossing a narrow canal from the second story, is the noted Bridge of Sighs (q.v.), connecting with the prison. The bridge was completed in 1605. and is arehitecturally attractive. The prison is used nowadays, but the horrible places of confinement under the palace ceased to exist in 1797. The mole separating the palace from the lagoon con nects with the wide and busy Rim degli Schia voni. This marble quay, a favorite place of the Venetians, extends easterly some distance, lined by hotels, shops, etc., on one side, and the water on the other. Not far to the northeast of the cathedral is Santa Maria Formosa, famous for Palma Vecchio's masterpiece, "Saint Barbara'' — an altar pictnre. The district abounds in palaces. Still farther north, near the lagoon and adjacent to the excellent municipal hospital, i* the large and splendid Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, of the fourteenth century, a domed and columned structure in Italian Gothic.
It is one of the principal attractions of Venice. It was the funeral church of the doges, and holds a number of their imposing tombs. Some of these monuments are rare examples, the finest perhaps in the city being that of A. Vendramin. Northeast is the Scuola di San Marco, now a hospital, a fine structure of the best Venetian period. In the vicinity stands the lofty and splendid bronze equestrian statue of Bar tolommeo C'olleoni. This monument, by Andrea Verrocchio, shares with that of Gattamelata, in Padua, by Donatello, the honor of being unsur passed in the world. To the east, toward the arsenal, is the San Giorgio degli Sehiavoni, with the Carpaccio paintings, which are elaborately described by Ruskin. In this eastern arm of Venice are the arsenal and the public gardens. the former dating from the beginning of the twelfth century. The arsenal, long the finest in the world, employs 6000 men, and has been extended and largely improved. its museum is interesting for a model of the system of piling on which the city stands and for the model and slight remains of the famous Bucintoro the sumptuous craft of state from which the Doge on Ascension day cast the ring into the waters, in the act of wedding the city to the sea. The public gardens are small but attractive. Ad jacent is the Church of San Pietro di Castello, which was the Cathedral of Venice until IS07. Bence islands extend eastward in the direction of the fashionable sea resort of the Lido, one of the finest beaches in the world.
Following the course of the Grand Canal (q.v.) from the Royal Garden by the Piazzetta to the railway station, there may first be noted the imposing Church of Santa Maria della Salute, begun in 1631. It rises into a dome, with rich adornments, and contains good works by Titian. The adjacent Seminario Pa triareale includes in its small art collection one of the two (putative) Gio•giones left in Venice. Farther on comes the renowned Academy of Fine Arts. It presents a series of Venetian canvases from the earliest down to those of Tiepolo. The great masters of color are here s-een to good advantage. Bellini is repretiented by his "Madonna of the Trees:" Titian by his masterpiece the "Assumption of the Virgin." and the "Presentation in the Temple;" Paul Veronese, with the "Supper in the Clouse of Levi:" Tintoretto, with his "Miraele of Saint Mark:" Paris Bordone, with his "Fisherman and the Doge:" and Carpaceio, with his remarkable series of "Scenes from the Story of Saint Ursula and der Virgins." The Palazzo Rezzonico, with columned balconies, where Browning died; the Palazzo Moconigo, where Byron lived; the splen did Palazzo (trimani, a Renaissance structure by Saininieheli; the Palazzo Loredan, whose praises were sung by Ruskin—are noted along the canal before reaching the celebrated Rialto Bridge.