Anywhere you look, hidden history stares back at you.
An inconspicuous sign on a wall tells a story about long forgotten crafts and social welfare in the 15th century. Ancient graffiti under a portico reminds us how public transport worked in the 18th and 19th centuries. An oddly placed altar shows how faith was used to fight crime. History is all over.
The humblest of little signs on a wall hides a story worth being retold.
Even a short walk down the calli with a knowledgeable guide can teach you as much as a shelf full of guidebooks.
The Hidden History tour
I will meet you at your hotel, or at the restaurant where you’ve had lunch, or wherever it suits you in Venice, and we’ll walk around the city together, searching for messages from the past.
This is not a tour of great monuments and famous places. That’s all in the guidebooks, and you won’t need to for that. Rather, it is a search for all those little messages past Venetians have left around the city, that we don’t see even if they’re just in front of us.
We’ll talk about how social welfare worked in the renaissance, about the ancient links between Venice and the Byzantine Empire, about the Venetian trade on the Levant, and much, much more.
The hidden history is in front of our eyes, but we don’t always see it.
These articles cover some of the subjects we might cover on a hidden history walk:
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Prostitution in Venice
In ancient Venice prostitution was considered a necessary evil, where more harm would come from a ban than from a…
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Differentiated rubbish collection in Venice
Venice had an organised system of differentiated garbage collections from the 1400s, to keep the city clean and the canals…
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Long live the doge
Viva il doge – Long live the doge – the writing on the wall celebrating the election of Andrea Gritto…
What others said
We had two full days in Venice, and we took Renee’s walking tour so we could walk around with a local and learn about the city’s history and architecture. He spent hours walking around with us, telling us fun little tidbits, showing us areas of the city we NEVER would have found if we were just walking on our own.
It was really a unique experience walking around and having him just speak about whatever we noticed! We definitely recommend this tour.
Amazing tour! René is a wonderful storyteller, and knows so much about Venice. He stayed extra to answer our questions and was so generous with his time and knowledge.
Rene is very knowledgeable, and it was fascinating listening to his take on the history of this island. We learned to identify the age of a building based on certain architectural details, the way trade was conducted down the ages, and the many layers of construction that this island has received based on how many major floods have occurred in the past, and more such stuff. I would totally recommend this experience!! 👌👍
Prices and booking
The hidden history walking tour can be two or more hours. The more time we spend together, the more we’ll see and explore.
Group tours
Groups can be from two to eight persons, so everybody can see and hear everything.
The price for group tours is €30/person for the first two hours, and €10/person for each additional hour.
Children under five can come for free, and children fourteen or younger for €10.
Private tours
Private tours are minimum €160 for the group. Otherwise, they’re priced as above.
A private tour can start at a time and place of your choosing.
You only pay for a private tour if you request a private tour.
Meeting place and time
I regularly do Hidden History walks starting at 10am in Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo, and if this will work for you, drop me a message.
If you’re looking for some other time or place, use this link to book an appointment directly into my calendar, and I’ll come back to you as soon as possible.