When I Am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden

Venice

 Venice Venice is a wonderful city in Italy on the Adriatic Sea. It is often called the “Queen of the Adriatic.” It is a very old city and many years ago it was more powerful and more beautiful than it is now. It is full of interest and people from all over the world go to visit there, because it is so unlike other cities and because there are so many interesting things to be seen. The city is built on eighty small islands, separated by wide and narrow channels. These channels are called canals. The houses cover the islands so completely as to make it appear that they were built up in the water. Nearly all the streets are canals. There are no rattling wagons and squeaky carts. People and goods are carried from place to place in boats called gondolas. These gondolas are very graceful and beautiful as they glide noiselessly along over the smooth water between the tall, stately houses. The houses open to the canals and the people step from their doors into the gondolas where they go any place. There are also narrow winding footpaths along the canals which are frequently crossed by graceful bridges. One of the bridges in Venice is called the Rialto. It is a graceful arch of marble, one hundred and fifty-eight feet long. It is three hundred years old. It is lined on either side with little shops, where everything is sold. It is said the first newspaper ever published was sold on this bridge. The price of the paper was a coin, called a Gazetta. That is why, I suppose, so many newspapers are now called “Gazette.” St. Mark’s is a famous cathedral, erected nearly eight hundred years ago. The stones, the marble and the timbers used in building it were brought from every country in Europe. In this wonderful church, repose the remains of St. Mark, so it is claimed. There are also four spiral columns here, said to have belonged to the temple of Solomon.  The Ducal Palace is a noted building. It is very large and wonderfully rich in ornament and fine workmanship. It was first built one thousand years ago, but has been destroyed five times. Each time it was rebuilt with more splendor than before. The governors of Venice hold their court in this building and in the rear, just across a narrow canal, is the gloomy prison with its dungeons and torture chambers. A bridge connects the Ducal Palace with the prison and is called “the bridge of sighs.” The Grand Canal is the fashionable avenue of Venice. It is very wide and about two miles long. Along this canal are the houses of the rich and many of them are beautiful marble palaces. ...