Things to see in Venice

The golden Byzantine St Mark's Basilica was founded in the ninth century as a shrine for the relics of St Mark. Built on a plan of a Greek cross, its Eastern appearance is enhanced by golden mosaics, originally created by craftsmen from the Byzantine court at Ravenna. The interior houses many of Venice's greatest treasures, including the venerated icon of the Madonna Nicopeia. The golden screen behind the high altar - the crypt in which St Mark is supposed to be buried - is the Pala d'Oro, beautifully crafted with sapphires, emeralds and rubies and inset with enamels from Constantinople. Before leaving St Mark's, visitors should pause to admire the 12th-century pavement, a resplendent mosaic of glass and marble.

Many of Venice's greatest paintings remain in the buildings for which they were created, but the most important art gallery, the Accademia, is still worth a visit. Housed in the former church of Santa Maria della Carita and the adjoining Scuola, the collection first opened in 1750. Oils were the favourite medium of the Venetian masters. Frescoes, popular on the mainland, were unsuited to the damp, salty climate of the lagoon and soon perished. Instead, oils painted on wood or canvas (long used in Northern Europe) were exploited to new limits, with the artists demonstrating an unusual sensitivity to colour and light, no doubt partly influenced by the play of light on the lagoon.

The small paintings in rooms 4 and 5 are some of the finest in the collection. Giorgione's Tempesta, depicting a naked mother and child sheltering under a stormy sky against the ruins of an ancient city, is full of mystery. The larger canvases by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese in room 10 should not be missed either. Titian painted the Pieta for his own tomb, demonstrating his extraordinary ability to create light with his palette. Veronese's bawdy picture, entitled Feast in the House of Levi, was originally painted as The Last Supper but the artist was forced to change the title after charges of indecorum.

The Doges' Palace (once home to the elected leader of Venice, the Doge, as well as the city's political nerve centre) is a must-see attraction in Venice. A merging of Islamic and Gothic styles, the facade dates from 1365. The interior is more Renaissance in style, dating mainly from the 16th century. The first floor is predominantly made up of the Ducal apartments which are still home to some exemplary paintings by Titian and Bellini. The Palazzo also houses ancient prison cells and an armoury.

The Bridge of Sighs is an architectural masterpiece that linked the Doge’s palace to the prison cells on the opposite side of the small canal. There is thought to be a romantic notion that lovers would find eternal happiness by kissing under the bridge at sunset. The truth behind the name comes from the sighs heard as prisoners crossed the bridge to a former prison, catching a glimpse of the world for the final time. Casanova was one of the famous prisoners to cross this bridge, although he was fortunate to leave the prison alive.

During the Middle Ages, the large Dalmatian (Schiavoni means 'Slav') population in Venice provided labourers for building ships and sailors for the Venetian fleets. Forming a charitable guild in 1451, they moved their seat to the School of St George in 1480, under the patronage of the Knights of Malta. Vittore Carpaccio, himself of Istrian origin, painted a series of celebrated and brilliantly imaginative canvases, between 1502 and 1508. Located in a dark hall on the ground floor since 1551, the canvases depict scenes from the lives of the guild's patron saints - St George, St Tryphone and St Jerome. Based on tales from The Golden Legend, the images depict St George killing the dragon, St Jerome welcoming the lion into the monastery, the funeral of St Jerome and the revelation of the death of St Jerome to St Augustine. Carpaccio's canvases demand attention through a combination of drama and extraordinary detail.