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Le Stanze del Vetro

Until August 1, 2021, Le Stanze del Vetro in S. Giorgio hosts the exhibition “The Glass Ark”: over 750 pieces on display – elephants, hippopotamuses, cats, giraffes, bears, parrots, fish, turtles, foxes… and even tiny real-scale insects – belonging to the personal collection of Pierre Rosenberg, historian Director of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Alongside the famous works of Martinuzzi, Lundgren and Zuccheri for Venini, to well-known specimens of the Seguso Vetri d’Arte, to zebrati of Barovier and Toso, to the aquariums of Alfredo Barbini, is proposed a vast sample of animals made from glass labs less known but equally interesting in terms of technical and formal experimentation of Murano of the twentieth century.

The exhibition is free, for information and reservations it is recommended to send an email to info@lestanzedelvetro.org or a Whatsapp message to +39 3516802697.

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Hidden Gardens of Venice

Did you know that Venice is rich in beautiful hidden gardens? In a city that looks only stone and brick, in fact within the properties of the Venetian nobles, you can find some greenery. Sansovino, in 1600, counted 50 gardens in the Santa Croce district, 39 in the San Marco district, 49 for Castello, 29 for San Polo and Dorsoduro and 40 for the Cannaregio district.

Due to the increasing urbanization of early 1900s and the continued depopulation, many of these small oases have been destroyed, but some of the remaining oases are still open to visitors. During your stay you can enter these green areas and admire, in addition to plants, sculptures, statues and fountains of unprecedented beauty.

Here are some of the most famous secret gardens, which can be visited with guided tours:

the Garden of the Old School of Mercy;
the Gardens of the Church of San Francesco della Vigna;
the Garden of Ca’ Morosini;
the Garden of the Casino of the Spirits;
the Garden of Casa Cardinal Piazza.

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The mistery of San Zaccaria’s crypt

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There is a Venice that few people still know, the Venice of the crypts, fundamental spaces in the architectural structure of many churches. Hidden places because underground, but no less rich in charm and art, originally designed to preserve the relics of the patron saints to whom the churches were dedicated, and today places of mystery and attraction.

San Zaccaria was the Pantheon of the Venetian Middle Ages: here lie eight ancient doges, the first of the Republic.

In 829 was founded the church of San Zaccaria in Venice, as an ideal continuation of the Basilica of San Marco, along with substantial emoluments to build next to a Benedictine monastery of female cloister, in which were locked up the daughters of the Venetian nobility in order to preserve intact the family properties: these nuns were reputed to lead a free and licentious life.

Between the Basilica of San Marco and the Monastery there was a vegetable garden ( brolo, in Venetian) owned by the nuns who sold a part to enlarge the square in front of the Basilica, and from here it seems born the Italian word cheat, because the square was called precisely “broglio”, and here were found the fallen nobles, called Barnabotti, who sold their votes to the Great Council, thus generating deceit, agreements, disloyalty.

The Corps of San Zaccaria rests in the mysterious and fascinating crypt, which resisted a furious fire that killed more than a hundred nuns. In 1515 the Church assumed the appearance it now has, the facade completely redone by Codussi, while the Bell Tower, dating back to the eleventh century has remained the same.

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Carlo Scarpa, Architect

Do you like Modern Architecture? Are you searching for an original idea about it in Venice?

Light, water, wood, marble, rock, iron, mosaic, Murano’s glass. Empty and full spaces, reflections and shadows: elements of Carlo Scarpa’s (1906-1978) buildings. Come and visit, also by guided tours, Querini Stampalia Foundation, Olivetti Shop, Baratto and San Sebastiano in Ca’ Foscari University and IUAV- Architecture Faculty of Venice!