Venice Guide and Boat

Books About Venice

Here are some of the best Books about Venice!

Are you interested to learn more about Venice before getting here? Are there good books about the History and Art of this amazing City? How to chose the right guide books? Are you curious about the recipes of the delicious local food you are soon going to taste? Here you will find some suggestions on books about Venice you might want to read to get the right information on what you could see, and be ready to Enjoy Venice!

one of the best book about the History of Venice

Frederic C. Lane, Venice, A Maritime Republic 

Frederic Lane has achieved what is the often unfulfilled dream of every historian who has devoted his entire work to the exploration of partial aspects of a single broad subject: he has given us a comprehensive, thoughtful, readable, beautifully illustrated general history of Venice from the origins to the beginning of decline. This is definetly one of the best books about Venice History.

 

A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich, one of the best books on Venice

John Julius Norwich, A History of Venice

A History of Venice tells the story of this most remarkable of cities from its founding in the fifth century, through its unrivalled status for over a thousand years as one of the world’s busiest and most powerful city states, until its fall at the hands of Napoleon in 1797.

 

 

Venice an Architectural Guide - a good book about VeniceRichard J. Goy, Venice. An Architectural guide

Each year, millions of visitors travel to Venice to admire the architectural marvels of this famed city. Richard Goy offers a convenient and accessible guide to the city’s piazzas, palazzos, basilicas, and other architectural points of interest, as well as pertinent historical details regarding Venice’s unique urban environment.

 
 
Peter Humfrey, Painting in Renaissance Venice - a very interesting book about Venice and the Renaissance

Peter Humfrey, Painting in Renaissance Venice

This text presents a comprehensive account of painting in Venice, from Bellini and Titian to Tintoretto, from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 16th century. The art is set against the background of religious, social and political conditions in Renaissance Italy.

 

 

Patricia Fortini Brown, Private lives in Renaissance Venice

Patricia Fortini Brown, Private lives in  Renaissance Venice

This book offers an engaging and original perspective on the private lives and material culture of patrician families in sixteenth-century Venice. Patricia Fortini Brown takes us behind the elegant façades of grand palaces built along the Venetian canals and examines the roles of both fine and applied arts in family life.

John Martin and Dennis Romano, Venice Reconsidered. The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State . 1297-1797John Jeffries Martin e Dennis Romano, Venice Reconsidered

Venice Reconsidered offers a dynamic portrait of Venice from the establishment of the Republic at the end of the thirteenth century to its fall to Napoleon in 1797. In contrast to earlier efforts to categorize Venice’s politics as strictly republican and its society as rigidly tripartite and hierarchical, the scholars in this volume present a more fluid and complex interpretation of Venetian culture.

 

The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto - one of the best guide books about Venice

Jonathan Buckley, The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto

Long established, The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto is the most thorough and reliable guide to the city and its surroundings. With stunning photography to inspire you, in-depth coverage to guide you and clear maps to steer you, this guide will ensure you make the most of your time in Venice.

VGB Blog

Leonardo Loredan: Venice’s Shrewd Strategist at the Basilica of Saints John and Paul

When Leonardo Loredan became Doge in 1501, Venice was teetering on the edge of great peril. During his twenty-year rule, he masterfully navigated the Republic through the turbulent League of Cambrai—an alliance of France, the Pope, the Holy Roman Empire, and others designed to crush Venetian power. Despite early defeats, Loredan’s political skill and diplomacy […]

Santorio Santorio: The Venetian Pioneer of Modern Medicine at the Marciana Library

Santorio Santorio (1561–1636), a Venetian physician and inventor, profoundly shaped modern medical science. He pioneered the use of the pulsilogium, a pendulum-based instrument that precisely measured the pulse—an innovation built on Galileo’s laws of motion. Through quantifying human vitals, Santorio transformed medical observation into a scientific practice

Regata Storica 2025: Venice’s Epic Water Parade and Rowing Spectacle

On Sunday, September 7, 2025, Venice will once again host the Regata Storica, its iconic historical regatta along the Grand Canal. This annual event, held on the first Sunday of September, is a living echo of Venice’s maritime and civic grandeur—rich in history, pageantry, and fierce competition.

Venice Film Festival 2025: A Journey Through Cinema and the Magic of Venice

Every year, late summer in Venice transforms into something extraordinary. From August 27 to September 6, 2025, the Venice International Film Festival returns to the Lido, drawing filmmakers, actors, and cinema lovers from around the world. Now in its 82nd edition, it remains one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world—where cinematic history […]