Venice was our first port of call on our tour of Tuscany in 2013. It is one of the few cities of the world that can be described as unique. It has certainly survived against all the odds, built on a series of low mud banks, amid the tidal waters of the Adriatic and regularly subjected to flooding, as we found out during a night in St Mark’s Square.

Once a powerful commercial and maritime base in the Mediterranean, Venice has found a new role, her palazzi have become shops, hotels and apartments, the warehouses have been transformed into museums and the Convents have been turned into centres for art restoration. With all these changes the fabric of the city has altered very little in the last two hundred years. A pre-war guide would be just as useful today as it was when first published, even taking into account the significant arial bombing that took place on the city during World War 11.

Today over fourteen million visitors come to Venice where the past has more meaning than the present. An evening stroll along the Grand Canal leaves a lasting memory.