[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE
_Erected in 1641-56 in commemoration of the removal of the plague in
1630. The interior contains excellent paintings by Titian._]
It is trite and ineffective simply to say that the Grand Canal is
the great artery and thoroughfare of Venice. It is so much more than
that: it is a magnificent show course adorned with two hundred or
more magnificent palaces dating from the fourteenth to the eighteenth
centuries, and beautiful churches and interesting public buildings.
A sightseeing trip in a gondola affords the visitor an object of
architectural beauty and historic interest at every rod. The historic
interest of some of these houses is double,--the interest attached to
them by virtue of the original patrician owners, and a new interest
acquired through the residence in them of notable men of later time.
Drift slowly along this splendid waterway. Marble steps lead down
from the noble residences to the water’s edge. Tall posts bearing the
colors of the family serve as hitching posts for the boats. Your guide
will tell you the stories, poetic and dramatic, of the families whose
names are set down in the great roll of the nobility of Venice entitled
“The Book of Gold.” Then you will be told of the later associations
that enhance the interest of some of the palaces. That handsome
mansion over there is where Desdemona lived. Nearby it is the Palazzo
Vendramin-Calergi, (ven-drah´-min cahl-ehr´-gee) in which Richard
Wagner (vahg´-ner) died in 1883. That stately palace over there was for
a time the home of Robert Browning; he died there in 1889, and there
is a memorial tablet on the wall. Look at those three palaces close
together. The one in the center was occupied by Lord Byron in 1818.
Nearby is the Browning home, a Gothic building, in which W. D. Howells
wrote his “Venetian Life.” In another palace George Sand had residence
for a time. The great painter Titian (tish´-an) lived in one of these
buildings.
[Illustration: PALAZZO VENDRAMIN-CALERGI
_Richard Wagner, the composer, died in this house in 1883._]
Each structure has its interest. Each bend of the canal reveals new
beauties. Across the beautiful waterway are three bridges--the name of
one is familiar the world over.