Virtual Tour
Castello and St Mark’s: the Square and the Water Gate — Filmed by Andrea Manzo
Ten stops from Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo to Piazza San Marco and on towards Campo Manin: a hospital behind the marble front of the Scuola Grande di San Marco, the church of the Miracoli, a bookshop named after the high water, the Bridge of Sighs, the two columns at the water’s edge where the Republic carried out its sentences, the tower that fell in 1902, the basilica, the clock that has been read from the paving since 1499, the staircase of the Contarini del Bovolo, and a filled-in canal named after the murders on its bridge.
About this virtual tour
Ten stops from Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo to Piazza San Marco and beyond, each opened by a short video that Andrea Manzo filmed and narrated in English on the spot. The walk starts at the Scuola Grande di San Marco, rebuilt by Pietro Lombardo and Mauro Codussi after the fire of 1485 and now the entrance to the city hospital.
From there: Lombardo’s marble church of the Miracoli, the Acqua Alta bookshop, the Bridge of Sighs, the two granite columns of the Piazzetta where the Republic carried out its death sentences, the campanile that collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt as it was, the basilica, and the clock tower unveiled in 1499. The last two stops are the spiral staircase of the Contarini del Bovolo and Rio Terà dei Assassini, a filled-in canal named after the killings on its bridge.
The route is 2.5 km on foot, about 35 minutes of walking; with time at each stop, plan on two and a half hours. You can also follow it from home: every video plays on this page, stop by stop.
What you get
- 10 short videos by Andrea Manzo, filmed at each stop and narrated in English: about ten minutes in all, one to two minutes per stop.
- The walking route on the map, stop by stop.
- GPX and KML files to follow the route on your phone or in a navigation app.
- The story of every stop, on its own page.
Before you buy
How much does it cost?
€14, paid once, VAT included. There is no subscription.
Do I have to be in Venice?
No. The videos play on this page, so you can watch the tour at home before a trip, or after one. On the spot, the map and the GPX file take you from one stop to the next.
How do I watch the videos after buying?
The confirmation email brings a private link to this page that opens the videos and the downloads. If you buy with the email of your Cultural Heritage Online account, the videos also open when you are signed in.
Who made the videos?
Andrea Manzo filmed and narrated them on site. Cultural Heritage Online wrote the pages of the stops and checked their facts.
Are there other tours?
Andrea Manzo filmed four walks in Venice. The other three are The North of Venice: Cannaregio, Rialto and San Polo, Santo Stefano and Dorsoduro.
Get this route — explore at your own pace
- What it is. A self-guided cultural itinerary you can walk whenever you like — all 10 stops, at your own pace.
- What you get. The full route with maps and downloadable GPX/KML tracks, plus the story of each site.
- What you need. Just your phone — the route and tracks are emailed to you right after purchase.
🔒 Secure payment. The fee goes directly to the guide — CHO keeps only a 1% transaction-handling cost. Refund policy
Step by step
Scuola Grande di San Marco
Founded in 1260, burned down in a night in 1485 and rebuilt by Pietro Lombardo and Mauro Codussi. Now the entrance to the city hospital, with a museum that has its own door on the campo.
🔒 Video included with the ticket
Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Pietro Lombardo's 1481–1489 church in Venice, clad in polychrome marble, is one of Italy's finest examples of early Venetian Renaissance architecture.
🔒 Video included with the ticket
Acqua Alta bookshop
Acqua Alta — "high water" in Venetian — is a celebrated independent bookshop in the Castello sestiere of Venice, where books, maps, postcards, and prints are…
🔒 Video included with the ticket
Bridge of Sighs – Virtual Tour 360°
A Baroque bridge of Istrian stone built in early 17th-century Venice, connecting the Doge's Palace to the New Prisons—named for the sighs of prisoners…
🔒 Video included with the ticket
The columns of San Marco and San Todaro: the gate where Venice killed people
The two granite columns of the Piazzetta carry the lion of St Mark and St Theodore. Sentences of death were carried out in the space between them, and the phrase for being executed was to end up between Marco and Todero.
🔒 Video included with the ticket
St Mark’s Campanile: the tower that fell in 1902 and was put back exactly as it was
The campanile of Piazza San Marco collapsed on 14 July 1902 and was rebuilt to the same design by 1912 — the decision that gave European conservation its most argued-over formula, dov'era e com'era.
🔒 Video included with the ticket
Patriarchal Basilica of San Marco – Virtual Tour 360°
Venice's principal church and seat of the patriarch, the Basilica of San Marco is a masterpiece of Byzantine and Venetian architecture, renowned…
🔒 Video included with the ticket
The Clock Tower of Piazza San Marco: a machine built to be read from the square
The astronomical clock over the entrance to the Merceria was unveiled on 1 February 1499. Its face gives the hour, the phase of the moon and the sign of the zodiac, and two bronze figures have struck its bell for five centuries.
🔒 Video included with the ticketContarini del Bovolo staircase – Virtual Tour 360°
The Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is a small Gothic palazzo tucked in the San Marco sestiere of Venice, Italy, celebrated above all for its external…
🔒 Video included with the ticket
Rio Terà dei Assassini: a filled-in canal named after the murders on its bridge
Rio Terà dei Assassini, in the sestiere of San Marco, runs over a canal that once had a bridge named after the killings committed on it. The chronicles link it to the order of 1128 that banned false beards and lit Venice’s unsafe streets at night.
🔒 Video included with the ticketDownload for tour navigation
🔒 Included with your ticket. After purchase, your private GPX & KML download links are sent to you by email.