The waterway that most perfectly captures the imagination of the world is only 2 1/4 miles long, averages a depth of 9 feet and is a mere 130 to 230 feet wide. This enchanting major thoroughfare called the Grand Canal, Canal Grande , follows the course of an ancient riverbed in Venice, the city made up of 118 islands that floats precariously on mud, sand and pilings at the northern end of the Adriatic.
The canal cuts Venice into two unequal parts as it snakes through the heart of this vibrant city like an inverted S, beginning at the Ponte Degli Scalzi near the Santa Lucia Railway Station and ending at the throbbing heart of Venice, the Piazza San Marco.
It comes as a pleasant shock to most visitors that the usual mode of transportation — motorized vehicles — is prohibited. In fact, all the so-called “streets” of Venice are really a dense network of canals, some 160 in all, spanned by 400 bridges. On his first visit to Venice, this revelation caused the American humorist Robert Benchley to cable a friend: “Wonderful city, streets full of water, please advise.” But it is no laughing matter from fall to spring when this dreamy waterway spills over onto land due to the extraordinarily high tides known as acqua alta, and you end up walking in water because the lower part of the city is covered in several feet of water.
Ordinarily, though, people can cross from one bank of the Grand Canal to the other by using three pedestrian bridges: the marble Ponte di Rialto, with its numerous arches and shops; the Ponte dell’ Accademia near the Gallerie dell’ Accademia, now housing Europe’s finest art collections; and the white stone Ponte Degli Scalzi near the railroad station.
But the splendor of the Grand Canal comes from the 100 or so sumptuous marble palaces built by nobility during the 12th to 18th centuries when Venice was at the peak of its power. They make an almost unbroken line along both sides of the banks. Among them are stunning Baroque and Gothic churches, rococo palaces and Moorish mansions, all adorned with stunning works by Renaissance masters.
To savor the magic of this legendary waterway, you might want to drift over the entire surface. True romantics will want to view it from a highly lacquered, traditional black gondola, steered by a straw-hatted gondolier, who’s ready to belt out not only Neapolitan love songs, but also the latest Broadway show tunes. This can be an especially mysterious and lyrical experience at night when the magic of Venice is heightened by moonlight.
Before you begin the trip, however, be sure you agree on the price, the length of the trip and the route to be taken with your driver. This holds true for water taxis as well, which are also pricey. Other alternatives include a less romantic no-frills ride on a traghetto (traditional gondola ferry) or you can chug along on the inexpensive but crowded vaporetti, the city’s mass transit system of water buses. It all depends on where you want to go, how fast you want to go and how much money you want to spend.
Along the way you’ll see magnificent hotels with sleek motor launches moored in front with striped poles that indicate mooring locations, crowded vaporetti busy depositing a crush of passengers onto docks, police boats, gondola funeral corteges, and boats piled high with freight, ready to be delivered.
Then there are the landmark buildings along the Grand Canal that are all steeped in history. The Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi, where Richard Wagner died in 1883, now serves as the winter home of the Municipal Casino. The Palazzo Mocenigo is where Lord Byron wrote part of “Don Juan” in 1818. The Ca’ d’Oro (Golden House), so called because its delicate, ornate facEade was once entirely gilded, is one of the most admired examples of Venetian Gothic in the city, and today houses the Galleria Franchetti with its spectacular collection of art, sculpture and tapestries, while the Palazzo Grassi, bought and refurbished by the Agnelli family of Fiat fame, has been refurbished into an art museum and displays fine art and various historical exhibitions.
By way of interest, if you happen to be in Venice in February, you can take part in the Carnevale that begins 10 days prior to Ash Wednesday. This event is celebrated by thousands who are entertained by clowns, acrobats, costume competitions, masquerade balls, music, theater and a parade of decorated boats and revelers cruising the Grand Canal, the magnificent waterway of this luminous city.
