Contacts

St Mark’s Square Monuments important practical info:

 

The DUCAL PALACE also known as the DOGE’S PALACE:

With me you will have free way to the ticket office, you won’t waste time in the line. Thus there’s no reason to buy the tickets in advance unless you want to save some money buying them online at least one month before your visit. The ticket of the Doge’s Palace also includes the Bridge of Sighs, the old Prison building and the Correr museum located at the end of St Mark’s Square. The huge Correr museum with its extraordinary painting collection, artefacts, coin collection and rare maps can be visited on your own the same day or the day after the Doge’s. If you want to visit it under my guidance you need to add a two hour tour in the afternoon.

Here you have the link to the official Doge’s Palace website:

Ducal Palace official website

 The CHURCH OF St MARK  also known as the St MARK’s BASILICA

For what concerns the Basilica since July 2025 they introduced strict rules to buy the tickets. This was necessary in order to avoid scalping tickets.

 The tickets for St Mark's Basilica must be purchased online only through the official Basilica’s website. To buy your entrances you have to choose carefully the timeslot you like for the day of the visit and insert your name in the form. I recommend to use only the official Basilicasanmarco.it website specified here:

 St Mark Basilica official website

 At the moment of the purchase the website will give you three options: Basilica entrance only, Baslica+Pala d’Oro (The golden altarpiece) or Basilica+Pala d’Oro+ Museum-horses terrace. If you don’t want to buy the full ticket (basilica+Pala+Terrace Museum) I highly recommend you to buy the Basilica and the Pala d’Oro. The Pala d’Oro is a must of your visit to the Basilica: with its amazing 1936 jems and its 83x131 inches the altarpiece is the most extraordinary example of gothic goldsmithery in existence.

 

St Mark's Basilica tickets run out easily because of the high demand so I advise you to buy them well in advance. I have the free pass so you don’t need to buy any ticket for me. On the day of the visit please remember that the Basilica is a regular church and visitors must have their shoulders covered. To avoid any problem at the gate you can bring a shawl with you. Moreover shorts above the knees are not allowed and it’s not possible to enter with trolleys or rucksacks bigger than 40x30x20cm. If you are more than 9 people it is compulsory for guided tours to have radio sets. There are several companies providing them on the spot.

 

My name is Martino Rizzi. Born and raised in Lido di Venezia I live now between the islands of Lido and Torcello. After graduating at the University of Padua in Political Sciences with a thesis on the downfall of the Republic Serenissima and having undertaken a long preparation to qualify as a guide, since April 2005 I enjoy a creative and stimulating profession well adapted to my passion for the history and the art of my city. Moreover I am a passionate of the Venice Lagoon from the fascinating history of its origins to the challenges of the present. Nowdays slow and sustainable tourism is a must especially here in Venice. I strongly believe that our landscape is as important as a Titian or Raffaello painting. By preserving the landscape we preserve our precious natural environment and the culture inherited from past generations. Living here is a privilege that requires active commitment! 

Look down below to the link GuideToVenice for Torcello (under construction)

 

Author of Aeronauti nei cieli di Venezia. Uomini e macchine volanti 1784-1911.

2024. Cierre Editore, 207 pages.

 

GUESTBOOK

 

 with Boris Johnson

 

with Edi Rama president of Albania

 

with Ralf Schumacher

 

with Prunella Scales and Timothy West for the TV series Great Canal Journeys

 

BBC TV series Invisible Cities

 

with Newton, in the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio

Do you want to discuss a guided tour with me or you need a quotation for a tour you like? 

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+39 3289485671
 

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GUIDETOVENICE.IT

Visit Venice with a local guide

MARTINO RIZZI
+39 3289485671