The Secrets of the Grand Canal

Behind the windows of the palaces on the Grand Canal, the most prestigious and important in Venice, lie the hidden legends, mysteries, curiosities, plots and passions of the Serenissima. Over the centuries, the thousand-year old history of the Republic unfurled within these rooms. At their balconies have stood the most beautiful courtesans, the most highly acclaimed poets, the most astute rulers, the most prestigious guests, who have made Venice the legendary city that it is.

“The Secrets of the Grand Canal” – published by Studio LT2 – tells all of these stories as it “navigates” through history: in fact, along the banks of “the most beautiful boulevard in the world”, as it was defined by the French ambassador Philippe de Commynes over five centuries ago, in a double journey De Citra and De Ultra, on one side and the other of the city – the history of the Serenissima comes alive with its events, its secrets, or simply its anecdotes, enchanting one and all with the voices of the past: a journey to discover the unfamiliar, curious and legendary aspects of the Republic which, in this fascinating book, reveal more about Venice and the extraordinary history that took root on the islands of the lagoon.

Hundreds of characters who, palace after palace, window after window, parade through these stories to remind us of what an extraordinary window onto History this unique waterway of ours really is: Gabriele D’Annunzio who was half-blind when he wrote “Notturno”, Dante Alighieri who began to converse with a fish in front of Doge Soranzo, Antonio Canova who sculpted his first works here, Lord Byron who swam in it daily, Eleonora Duse who found peace nowhere but here, Giacomo Casanova who held his first sermon as an abbot before dedicating his life to “other things”, Pope Alexander III who worked as a servant boy, Francesco Morosini whose conquests would bring new glory to the Republic, Rudolph Valentino who saved an heiress from its waters, and Napoleon Bonaparte, Pietro Aretino, Peggy Guggenheim, Giordano Bruno, in an incredible survey united by the flow of the centuries in the waters of Venice’s major thruway. But along with History obviously goes legend, mostly passed down by oral tradition: so the Grand Canal too, along its banks, becomes the home of terrifying or gentle ghosts, of devils and witches, of sea monsters and stone crocodiles.

Finally, the book does not talk about famous legendary figures alone, but also about the magnificent buildings that have their own curious or extraordinary stories to tell, and which, despite the passing of time, are still here to tell them: stories like the one of the palace cut in half, or the palace that was never completed; of the building with the sculptures that describe a family tragedy or the graffiti that speak of the ancient times of the plague; of the majesty of Cà Balbi, built out of spite, and of the fussiness of the “House of Desdemona”, of the palace with a curse and the dome without a church; of the Rialto bridge, and the bridge of the Constitution.

With its double cover “The Secrets of the Grand Canal” is a reversible book, which can be read from one side or the other: starting from each of the two sides the reader can explore both banks of the Canal – coming and going – so that the book becomes a unique and entertaining object. It also includes a graphic image of each palace on the Grand Canal, and can therefore be read as a guidebook. Finally, it features the black and white photography of professional photographer Gianni Canton.

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