Walk on the Dark Side of Venice Private Tour

Your unique trek starts at St. Mark’s Square. Facing the setting sun on the lagoon stands the grandiose Doge’s Palace. Since the 9th Century, it has been the political heart of the Venetian Republic, center stage of bloody assassinations and conspiracies. From the outside, you’ll see the famous Bridge of Sighs that connects the palace’s hall to its jail, where prisoners will sigh at their last view of Venice before being thrown to the torture chamber.

Walking to the Grand Canal, you’ll make a stop at the Campo Santo Stefano. Did you know that squares called campo santo in Venice today were mass graveyards in the past? The walk then leads you across the Accademia Bridge to start your adventure in the Dorsoduro district that very few tourists ever frequent. You’ll discover the facade of an infamous cursed mansion, hidden behind the fog that rises up from the canals.

The courtyard of an ancient hospital for people with incurable diseases will take you back to the darkest hours of Venetian history. The plague outburst in the 17th Century killed more than a third of the city’s population, believed to be a divine punishment for the sins of the hedonistic floating city. A church was thus built and consecrated to Virgin Mary on the tip of Dorsoduro – Santa Maria della Salute . Beneath its baroque facade, you’ll meet the plague doctors under their intimidating bird-shape masks and hear stories of the merciless epidemic that changed Venice forever.