Il Redentore a photo by The Torontonian on Flickr.

So, while walking in Venice; one of my main goals was not to only explore the city as much as I could BUT to visit the less explored nooks and corners… well… as much as the limited time there would allow.

Plus if at all possible to travel through it’s canals and alleyways at night. Not because I had traveled thousands of kilometers with the firm desire to risk getting mugged with Venice’s historic architecture as a backdrop (since man, what a crazy and expensive kink would that be!). I did however want to get a sense of this city at night; away from San Marco’s, the crowded squares, the endless army of tourists and the preconceptions we all have of such a city.

As such we found ourselves at the the intersection of Sestiere Dorsoduo and Fondamenta Zattere ai Saloni at the very end of Dorsoduo (‘Hard Ridge’ in English due to the areas higher and steadier land underfoot) which overlooks Piazza San Marco to the north and Il Redentore to the south. This thin triangular spot is known as the Punta della Dogana  and is the division between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal. The photo you see was taken looking south during a rainy, deserted night, near midnight. With a long exposure, used to contrast the navigating lights of passing powered boats while the steady church, built in the 16th century lingers, steadily forward in time.   

I must say I enjoyed walking through its deserted streets at night a little more than doing the same during the day. As it give me a unique chance to appreciate the architecture up close and far personally then if I had been surrounded by tourist. For one you really get the sense of how barren the streets of this city are. The streets themselves have the same charm and decour of an empty subway station as most of the trees in this city are private and behind the walls of private residents.   

Also, it becomes very clear that Venice as a whole is in a incredible level of disrepair. With cracking walls, weather bricks and crumbling stucco everywhere. All of it. Venice is really a beautiful, if crumbling museum. To any fellow travelers, I cannot emphasize it enough, if you never been to this Unesco world heritage site, this floating gem, then do it sooner than later.  

This show was taking with a Nikon D700, wide angle 17-35mm and tripod.