The golden globe of Fortune
A weathervane turning above the tower.
Jean-Pol GRANDMONT — CC BY 4.0 · This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright pr — CC BY-SA 3.0 · dconvertini — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mona Hassan Abo-Abda — CC BY-SA 4.0
The old customs house at Venice's point: Punta della Dogana is a triangular building of 1682 standing where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca canal — on its tower a golden globe held by two Atlases, crowned by a weathervane figure of Fortune that turns with the wind, Venice's maritime emblem. It was the Republic's customs warehouse, where ships were unloaded and their cargo counted, and it stood derelict for decades until the Japanese architect Tadao Ando converted it in 2009 into a contemporary art museum for the François Pinault collection — the conversion itself a lesson: Ando left the original brick and timber trusses exactly as they were and inserted smooth concrete walls between them, so old and new read together. Exhibitions rotate from the Pinault collection, the world's largest private contemporary art holding, and the sister building Palazzo Grassi on the Grand Canal shares a combined ticket. The quay around the building is free and among the finest places to sit in Venice: the Salute church behind you and St Mark's across the water.
A weathervane turning above the tower.
Customs-house timber under Ando's concrete.
Dorsoduro 2, Venice
Santa Maria della SaluteThe Salute — "health and salvation" — is the great white dome closing the mouth 1 minute walk4.8
Giardini RealiA small garden between St Mark's Square and the waterfront in Venice, among the 4 minutes walk4.4
Venice National Archaeological MuseumCenturies before anyone invented the museum, Venice had a room of ancient marble4 minutes walk4.1
Correr MuseumThe Correr fills the Napoleonic wing overlooking St Mark's Square, and it is the4 minutes walk4.4
Peggy Guggenheim CollectionThe Peggy Guggenheim Collection is Italy's most important modern-art museum, and5 minutes walk4.5No: the Biennale is a periodic show in the Giardini and Arsenale every two years; this is a private institution open year-round — though it intensifies its programme in Biennale season.