10 Weird and Quirky Things to Do in Venice

Acqua Altadi Venezia is a bookhop and a tourist attraction. To get there, leave the beaten track and continue just beyond the beautiful Chiesa di Santa Maria Formosa (Church of Santa Maria Formosa). As the lagoon's water level rises, the canal runs into the bookstore. The owner made do by filling the space with furnishings that either float or are water resistant. Your book could be in the gondola at the entrance, an old boat or a bathtub. The books themselves form part of the architecture. In the courtyard, you can climb a staircase made of old volumes to look over the surrounding wall, onto a canal. Buy a book to take home a piece of this peculiar, brilliant world.

Saint Lazarus of the Armenians is an island in the Venetian Lagoon that captures the cosmopolitan spirit of a city that made its fortunes trading with far-off worlds. It is near the Lido’s west coast. Since the 18th century, it's been the spiritual center for an Armenian monastic community, who settled on an abandoned island with a ruined monastery. They renovated the church, constructed buildings, quadrupled the island’s size and founded a printing press, producing literary, scientific and religious works in 36 languages and 10 alphabets. There’s also a collection of over 4000 Armenian manuscripts, an art gallery and a museum containing Arab art and artifacts, including an Egyptian mommy. Get there via vaporetto to San Zaccaria, along the Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront.

Don't be fooled by Chiesa di San Pantalon (Church of San Pantalon)’s austere, unfinished facade, near Campo Santa Margherita. Inside, 443 square meters of ceiling are covered in what looks like a spectacular fresco, but is actually an enormous painted canvas, the world’s largest according to locals. Achieved by joining 40 canvases, it will have you craning your neck to admire the depiction of Saint Pantaleon the martyr. A clever trick of perspective makes the church appear larger, as the architecture’s supplemented with painted columns and arches. This mammoth task was assigned to Giovanni Antonio Fumiani, who specialized in stage design. The figurative narration begins with emperor Galerius Maximianus on the throne, followed by his sentence, torture, execution and, in the center, ascension into heaven.

A trip to San Michele Cemetery is a good excuse for a ride in a vaporetto. The lagoon contains several islands, but for something different, get off at Isola di San Michele (San Michele Island). It’s a city cemetery but foreigners are also buried here, like composer Igor Stravinsky, poet Ezra Pound and Russian ballet impresario Sergej Diaghilev. In the past, burials took place beside churches, with well-known personalities buried inside them. In the Napoleonic era, cemeteries were banned in inhabited neighborhoods for hygiene reasons. So instead the Venetians used Isola di San Michele, outside the city but easily accessible. Until the mid-20th century, every 1 November a pontoon bridge was set up to facilitate visits. The pontoon’s near a side entrance next to the church, the best spot to begin your trip.

Lazzaretto Nuovo and Lazzaretto Vecchio were founded when Venice was the hub for trade between East and West. The traffic brought riches, but also risked transmitting diseases. In the late 1400s, the Venetians had an innovative idea that would be imitated worldwide: they designated 2 islands for storing and checking suspicious goods and for looking after infected passengers. And so the 2 Lazzaretti (quarantine stations) were born. Lazzaretto Nuovo, along Canale di Sant’Erasmo (Sant'Erasmo Canal), was for monitoring people and goods. Your visit includes an exhibition in the buildings and archeological site, but there’s also a nature path around the walls. Lazzaretto Vecchio, near the Lido's coast, was used to look after infected people. The island has special Sunday visiting hours, or you can book a guided tour.

Visiting the San Servolo Island Musuem, an old mental institution, may make you shudder, but the Museo del Manicomio (Mental Asylum Museum) is an interesting cultural, historical and naturalistic experience. In a beautiful park on San Servolo island stands a former monastery. It was later used as a hospital, first for injured soldiers, then for the mentally ill. The ‘La follia reclusa’ (secluded madness) exhibit retraces the hospital's scientific history and personal stories, with documents, medical records, paintings and objects created by patients, restraints like arm binders or ankle blocks, photos of life on the wards, the piano used in music therapy, and electroshock tools. There’s an anatomy room and 18th-century pharmacy displaying over 200 different containers on the original shelving.

The flooded crypt of San Zaccaria, near Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square) is in one of the most beautiful churches in Venice, with its 15th-century facade, artistically rich interiors and so much more. From the cappella di San Tarasio (San Tarasio Chapel), in one of the apses, descend the steps to the crypt, one of the building's most impressive features, easily missed by oblivious tourists. It’s split into 3 aisles with columns and cross vaults. The Most Serene Republic of Venice’s first Doges are buried here. Nowadays, as in many Venetian buildings, the underground area is constantly flooded. The water has transformed it into a unique, intriguing space. The columns’ and vaults’ reflection double the space, creating a sense of depth and new perspectives.

The Borges Labyrinth is not the labyrinth of streets and canals, but a real, fiddly route hemmed in by hedges. Created on San Giorgio Maggiore Island, it’s dedicated to Jorge Luis Borges, who had close ties with Venice. The city wanted to pay homage to him with this landmark. It seems unusual, but it's linked to the Argentinian writer's work: labyrinths are a recurring theme of his, symbolizing the world's complexity and man's difficulty in finding his way. It's a short vaporetto ride away from Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). When you get off, go around the basilica to reach your destination. It’s impressive to look at: the route’s over a half-mile long, formed of over 3000 boxwood plants.

Visit Antonio Canova's tomb if your like Masonic symbolism and unearthing enigmatic, allegorical language in architecture and monuments. It's in Basilica dei Frari (Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari), near Campo San Polo. Even the building’s shape is strange, especially given it's in a church. The pyramid represents the great architect of the universe, the Freemasons' divinity. Want to crack hidden codes in statues? There's an angel with open wings, a sleeping lion with a book between its paws, a youth holding a flashlight, a veiled woman and other figures. They tell a story of the soul’s immortality, an artist’s wisdom and his inspiration. Mysteries and strangeness don't stop there: the tomb only contains Canova's heart – his body is in his birthplace, Possagno.

Behind the high altar in Basilica di Santa Maria e San Donato (Basilica of Saint Mary and Saint Donatus) on the island of Murano you'll see the enormous dragon's vertebra. They say the bones (probably a whale’s) belong to a terrifying critter defeated by Saint Donatus. The tale dates to the 12th century, when the saint's remains were transferred to the church. Miracles were attributed to him, including slaying a monster with the sign of the cross in battle. Shortly after the relic's arrival, the animal bones were also brought to the church. They're still displayed but are somewhat concealed among the mosaics and artwork. Try to look through the eyes of a medieval Venetian; you may still glimpse a dragon.