At first glance, the panoramic view of Venice from atop the San Marco Basilica bell tower presented spellbinding contrasts. Magnificent blue skies cradled white clouds. Below, motorboats powering through the aquamarine canals produced trails of white behind them. And in every direction, rust-colored, clay rooftops interlocked to appear as one.
Yet, a closer look revealed even more.
Steeples and bell towers jutted out from the terracotta rooftop horizon. Those structures with distinctive characteristics, like the Doge’s Palace, San Giorgio Maggiore or the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, also prominently distinguished themselves.
As specific buildings came into focus, so did another structure. Nestled, too, among the sea of reddish-brown rooftops was a stark-white dome and an equally striking, spiraling, external staircase.
“Let’s go there next,” I suggested, instantly enamored.
We had planned to explore the city the remainder of the day, and the captivating staircase would give us a specific destination. The structure was familiar to my husband, so he entered its name, the Scala Contarini del Bovolo, into his GPS once we’d taken the elevator back down to the palazzo.
Following the directions, the two of us traversed an intricate maze of passageways. We crossed through additional palazzos, climbed over bridges and ventured down small alleys between buildings. As with most of our GPS-guided explorations of Venice, this got us close. Told us we’d arrived, in fact, although the staircase was not actually visible to us.
After proceeding down three or four unmarked passages in the vicinity, we eventually chose correctly. Our destination came into view. Surrounded by an iron fence and rich-green grass, the Scala Contarini del Bovolo stretched upward before us.
Built at the end of the 15th century by the Contarinis, one of Venice’s founding families, the spiraling “snail shell” facade was constructed to connect two buildings in a way to accentuate the family’s wealth.
After paying the small admission fee, we made our way up the twisting tower, eventually reaching the top. From there, we savored a panoramic view similar to the one we’d enjoyed an hour or so earlier.
Again, the rust-colored rooftops stretched below eye-level before us. In the distance, this time, we spied San Marco Basilica, its domes and its bell tower.
Although tempted to bask in our successful navigation efforts, we knew the discovery of more architectural treasures awaited. And hopefully, more incomparable views of this picturesque city.
(Note: Marjorie Appelman is an English, communications and journalism teacher at Mason County High School and co-founder of the travel blog, Tales from the Trip, which is also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. She can be reached at marj.appelman@gmail.com.)
