Destination: Fiction: Dan Brown's Inferno: More Venice in Photos

While visiting Venice this past summer I saw more of the locations mentioned in Dan Brown's novel Inferno that I hadn't come across on my previous visit. Here are new photos, beginning where Robert Langdon did at Santa Lucia Train Station.

Santa Lucia Train Station, Venice

Upon their arrival in Venice, Langdon and his party board a water taxi and travel to Piazza San Marco along the length of the Grand Canal.

Venice Water Taxi

Santa Lucia, the patron saint of the blind, is buried in the Church of San Geremia.

Church of San Geremia

At the other end of the Grand Canal is the Maritime Customs Office with its golden globe and weather vane.

Dogana da Mar, The Maritime Customs Office

Customs Office Globe and Weather Vane

(For more photos of the bridges and palazzos on the Grand Canal see an earlier post George Clooney's Grand Canal Wedding Cruise.)

The Approach to Piazza San Marco

Cruise Ship and Gondolas in the Lagoon

As Langdon approaches his favourite Venetian locale, the Riva degli Schiavoni, he recalls some of the landmarks found along the promenade: the Hotel Danieli, Vivaldi's church and the city's shipbuilding yards, the Arsenale.

The Riva degli Schiavoni Promenade

The Hotel Danieli

Victor Emmanuel II Monument

Vivaldi's Church, La Pietà

The Arsenale

The pale pink Doge's Palace stands at the water's edge, connected to the doge's prison by the famous Bridge of Sighs.

The Doge's Palace

The Bridge of Sighs

The Gateway to Venice

The Winged Lion of St. Mark's

Napoleon once called Piazza San Marco "the most beautiful drawing room in Europe". St. Mark's Basilica was undergoing restoration work this summer so unfortunately the front facade was partially obscured by scaffolding.

Piazza San Marco, St. Mark's Square

St. Mark's Clock Tower (left) and Basilica (right)

St. Mark's Clock Tower

Astronomical Clock

On the southwest corner of St. Mark's Basilica stands The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture looted from Constantinople during the Crusades. One of the figures is missing a foot.

The Tetrarchs

The Missing Foot

This sculpture isn't the only thing looted by the Venetians during the Crusades. On a balcony above the basilica's central arch stand copies of four bronze horses also taken from Constantinople. Even the remains of St. Mark himself were "rescued" from Alexandria in 828 A.D. The event is depicted in the mosaics above the far left door.

Central Arch of St. Mark's Basilica and the Bronze Horses

The Return of St. Mark's Remains to Venice

Detail of St. Mark's Coffin

A recurring theme in Brown's novel is the plague doctor's mask, just one of many styles of mask worn during Carnevale festivities. This uniquely Venetian event is still celebrated today as it has been for centuries.

Pulcinella in Love, Tiepolo
Ca' Rezzonico

Masks, historical costumes and accessories are also sold for use in films, for example Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut which starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.