An October Morning in Venice: A Golden Hour Tour of St. Mark's

 There's a magic to Venice that's best found in the stillness of dawn. On an early October morning in 2018, as the first rays of sunlight pierced the horizon, the legendary city transformed. The canals lay glassy and still, reflecting a sky streaked with the softest pastels, and the air was thick with a quiet anticipation. This is the Venice that few travellers get to experience—the one before the crowds arrive.

The Grand Entrance to a Grand Square

Wandering towards the heart of the city, the journey's destination was clear. The light was liquid gold, and it seemed to coat every building in a warm, ethereal glow. The Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square, is the only true "piazza" in Venice. For centuries, it has been the city's political and religious hub, and Napoleon himself famously called it the "drawing room of Europe." In the tranquillity of the morning, you can truly appreciate its scale and grandeur.

The two towering columns, the Colonna di San Todaro and the Colonna di San Marco, stood sentinel at the edge of the water. The first holds a statue of St. Theodore atop a crocodile, Venice’s original patron saint, while the second is crowned by the city’s iconic winged lion, the symbol of its current protector, St. Mark. They mark the grand gateway from the lagoon, and seeing them at sunrise feels like stepping through a portal to another time.

The Dazzling Basilica and the Tower of the Master

Dominating the square is the breath taking Saint Mark's Basilica, a spectacular masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. With its intricate marble carvings and five great domes, it's a testament to the city's immense wealth and power as a trading hub. Known as the "Basilica d'Oro" or the Golden Basilica, its facade sparkles with mosaics that hint at the gold leaf covering its interior. Legend has it that the church was built to house the relics of St. Mark, smuggled out of Alexandria by Venetian merchants in the 9th century.

Standing guard next to the basilica is the imposing St. Mark's Campanile, Venetians' beloved "master of the house." This brick bell tower, at nearly 100 meters tall, has a fascinating history. It's not the original tower; the first one collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt exactly "as it was, where it was" (com'era, dov'era). From its top, you can get a spectacular panoramic view of the city, its bell regulating the pulse of Venetian life for centuries.

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Off to the side of the main square, tucked beside the Basilica, lies a quieter space: the Piazzetta dei Leoncini, or the "little square of the lions." Named for the two squatting red marble lions that stand guard, this area offers a more intimate experience. While the main square buzzes with energy, this corner provides a tranquil space to pause and take in the magnificent architecture of the Basilica from a different perspective.

As the morning light grew brighter and the first cafe tables were set out, the magic of the golden hour began to fade, replaced by the vibrant energy of a new day. But for a brief, beautiful moment, Venice belonged to the sunrise.

I took these pictures on the 31st October 2018 with a Nikon d3300, clicking any of them should open a link in another window to my Colin Green photography store on Zazzle.

Piazzetta dei Leoncini.

Colonna di San Todaro and the Colonna di San Marco.

St Mark's Campanile.

San Giorgio Maggiore Church.

Doge's Palace.

St Mark's Square.

St Mark's Basilica.

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Venice: Day 1, 29 October 2018

Monday, October 29th, 2018. Our arrival in the fabled city of Venice was less a gentle gondola ride and more a wade into watery wonder. Instead of the postcard-perfect canals reflecting centuries of history, we were greeted by an altogether more dramatic scene: Venice submerged.

They say acqua alta, the high water, is a part of Venetian life. But the deluge that greeted us on our first day was something else entirely. Reports trickled in of the worst flooding in over a decade, the water levels in places, particularly around the iconic St. Mark's Square, creeping alarmingly close to three feet. The romantic notion of exploring the labyrinthine alleyways quickly dissolved into the more pressing reality of navigating a city rapidly turning into a temporary lagoon.

Our initial plans for a leisurely exploration were, shall we say, dampened. The heart of Venice, the areas we had dreamt of seeing first, were simply unreachable. Instead, our initial hours were spent confined to the periphery – the areas around the airport and our hotel becoming our unexpected initial playground.

But even in these less celebrated corners, the power and strangeness of the situation were undeniable. The familiar sounds of rolling suitcases were replaced by the slosh of water, the usual bustle punctuated by the lapping tide against doorways. Reflections danced on surfaces that should have been dry, turning ordinary streets into shimmering, albeit inconvenient, waterways.

Armed with whatever photographic tool came to hand – my trusty Sony phone for quick snaps, the surprisingly capable camera on my Amazon tablet, and my reliable Nikon D330 SLR for when conditions allowed – I tried to capture the surreal beauty of this unexpected introduction to Venice. These first images aren't of grand palazzos or bustling markets. They are a testament to the resilience of a city facing a formidable force of nature, a glimpse into the everyday adapting to the extraordinary.

They are pictures of a city holding its breath, waiting for the waters to recede, but even in its submerged state, radiating a unique and unforgettable charm. This wasn't the Venice we expected, but it was certainly a Venice we will never forget. Stay tuned for more as (hopefully!) the waters subside and we can venture deeper into the heart of this incredible, if currently very wet, city.

Clicking any of the images below should open a link in another window to my Colin Green Photography store on Zazzle.

Taken at the Venice airport boat moorings waiting for my transfer to the city.

This was my first proper land based view of Venice, taken from the boat landing area near
St Marks Square looking across the water to the church of San Giorgio Maggiore.

Looking down from my hotel room at San Marco Palace to the flooded courtyard below.

Flooding outside Doge's Palace at the entrance to St Mark's Square. The water got deeper than
this crossing the square, reaching chest height on me before I successfully reached my hotel.

The hotel steps.

I took this shortly after take off from Manchester Airport looking out across the Peak
District. The sun had not long since risen. At a guess I think the plane would have been
somewhere between Marple Bridge and New Mills.

The Hotel Steps again, looking up towards the sky light.

Looking down towards the Alps Mountain range somewhere near the borders of Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, Austria and Italy.

The rooftops of Venice viewed from my hotel room at San Marco Palace.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.