Discover Venice with a professional historian

Drawings on the walls on Lazzaretto Nuovo island, from the 1500s

Many guides and guidebooks can answer a lot of the ‘what’ questions about Venice, but very few can answer the harder ‘why’ questions. With my history walks in Venice, boat tours and kayak in the lagoon, I try to explain why Venice is the way it is.

The over two hundred blog posts, long form articles, newsletters, lists and translations on this site should give an idea of the breadth and depth of the possible subjects for discussion during our walks.

My name is René Seindal, and I’m a Danish historian, living in Venice for almost two decades with my Venetian family. I am an authorised tour leader (accompagnatore turistico) in English, Italian and Danish. Besides my walks and boat tours, I’m also a guide on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island.

All my activities are bespoke, centred on what interests you about the history of Venice. I only do walks in small groups, to leave time and space for dialogue, questions and interactions. There are no microphones or ear buds, I do not want to be a walking audio guide.

The tours are not as such targeted for children, but kids are very welcome, and I will do my best.

Tours on offer

Hidden History

Depiction of 16th century gondolas on an alter at Santa Giustina in Venice

A walk around Venice, exploring the many messages from Venice of yore, often hidden in plain view.

Plague Island

Drawings on the walls on Lazzaretto Nuovo island, from the 1500s

A guided visit to the island Lazzaretto Nuovo, where quarantine was invented to fight the Black Death.

Boat tours

Abandoned remains on Batteria Ex-Poveglia

A boat tour in the Venetian lagoon reveals that there’s much more to Venice than just the city.

Kayak tours

A woman in a kayak in the Venetian lagoon, wit the islands of Burano and San Francesco in the background. She has her right arm outstretched.

The best way to experience the Venetian lagoon and its unique marshlands is in a kayak.

What others said

Read the full reviews

★★★★★ Excellent insights into Venetian history — Tom

★★★★★ Wonderful, Informative and Enjoyable — Erica

★★★★★ A history master class — Alberto

★★★★★ We were riveted by the tour — Alicia

★★★★★ Simply brilliant — John

★★★★★ Thanks for a great few hours! Learned so much 🙂 — Amy

★★★★★ A perfect start for a Venetian sojourn — Laura

★★★★★ WOW, Rene is an amazing storyteller, historian and a scholar — Noy

★★★★★ Rene beats all other guides here 10 to 1 — Anna

★★★★★ Book this experience, you’ll thank me later! — Michael

★★★★★ I would totally recommend this experience!! 👌👍 — Amrita

★★★★★ Rene is incredibly knowledgeable — Jörg

★★★★★ First class and insightful tour — Paul

★★★★☆ We loved the information so much — Katherine

★★★★★ Fantastic Time Learning About Venice — Mathew

Venetian Stories

A medieval painting of a religious procession in St Mark's Square, with the words "Venetian Stories" across

Podcast

The Venetian Stories podcast is about the history of Venice. It is not a chronological narrative, but independent episodes, each 25–30 minutes.

Recent episodes:

Newsletter

The Venetian Stories newsletter is a sibling of the podcast, but not a twin. The newsletters might, or might not, treat the same subject.

Recent newsletters:

Writings on the
History of Venice

Between blog posts, long form articles, various lists, and translations from the Curiosità Veneziane and others reference works, there are over two hundred in-depth articles on this site.

Alternatively, consult the single-unified list of all the articles, or browse the writings by location.

Recent writings

  • Bianca Cappello — a chronology

    Bianca Cappello — a chronology

    A chronology of the main events in the life of Bianca Cappello, Venetian noblewoman, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Daughter of the Republic.

  • Bianca Cappello

    Bianca Cappello

    In 1563, a young Venetian noblewoman eloped with her lover, never to come back to Venice again. She went on to have an eventful, and highly unusual life, in Florence.

  • New: kayaking tours

    New: kayaking tours

    Kayaking in the Venetian lagoon — a unique way of the experiencing Venice and its natural surroundings.

In-depth article series

  • Strada Nova – from the Station to Rialto

    Strada Nova – from the Station to Rialto

    Venice changed from a city which primarily existed for its inhabitants to a city dominated by tourism, and the Strada Nova was the first step.

  • The Republic of Venice

    The Republic of Venice

    The Republic of Venice never had an actual formal constitution, much less a written constitution. Neither did it have any kind of foundational event.

  • Gaetano Zompini and the trades of Venice

    Gaetano Zompini and the trades of Venice

    The “Arti che vanno per via nella città di Venezia”, by Gaetano Zompini, is a fantastic source for how people appeared on the streets of Venice in the mid-1700s.

Most popular articles

  • The mysterious hooks of fortune at San Canciano

    The mysterious hooks of fortune at San Canciano

    A bridge at San Canciano is called the “bridge of the hung and quartered”. Nearby hangs some hooks on the wall, but nobody knows what they were for.

  • Prostitution in Venice

    Prostitution in Venice

    In ancient Venice prostitution was considered a necessary evil, where more harm would come from a ban than from a de facto acceptance

  • Old maps of Venice

    Old maps of Venice

    Old maps are an important source for our understanding of how Venice looked and functioned in the past

Free downloads

An unreasonably short history of Venice is — surprise — an unreasonably short history of Venice, from the bitter start to the bitter end. In fact, it is so short, it can be read in a couple of hours, on the flight or in the airport. Seven chapters, each of around 3000 words, tell the History of Venice as succinctly as possible.

Read it online on the History of Venice web-site, or download the PDF or the e-book for your off-line reading pleasure. There is also a TL;DR version available online.

Looking for something?

Write a few words below and search through all the writings on the site …

A list of some of the sources and publications used to prepare this site.

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History walks in Venice with a professional historian.

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