Venice: Queen of the Adriatic

Venice is a fairy tale city, rising from the sea on 119 small islands, separated by the 160 canals that dominate Venetian life. It's jeweled Basilica is a blend of Byzantine splendor and Western imagination and the Piazza San Marco has been proclaimed "the most beautiful room in Europe." It has been half a millennium since Venice ruled the waves. Since then it's magnificent churches and palaces, gondolas and canals, public buildings and private villas, art museums and piazzas have steadily declined into a gorgeous decay. This installment of MUSEUM CITY SERIES showcases the thousand years of the glorious history and heartbreaking beauty that is Venice: Queen of the Adriatic.