12 Famous Movie Locations in Venice

St Mark’s Square, locally known as Piazza San Marco, is the landmark filmmakers use to capture the iconic sights and feel of the Veneto capital. It has starred in 3 Bond flicks – perhaps the most memorable being Moonraker (1979) when Roger Moore’s 007 ‘drives’ into the crowded square in his souped-up amphibious gondola following a high-speed canal chase.

In Casino Royale (2006), the bustling square is featured again with Daniel Craig’s 007 persona dashing through crowds towards a mocked-up ‘Basel Bank’, in search of Vesper Lynd. The square is also featured in sweeping and atmospheric shots in The Tourist (2010), The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

Venice’s iconic Grand Canal has starred in quite a few modern and memorable blockbusters. No sailing yacht had gone up this most important Venetian waterway in 3 centuries – that was until Spirit 54, the specially built-for-filming James Bond vessel in Casino Royale (2006) was granted special permission. Daniel Craig and Eva Green cruised into Venice aboard it in a sweeping cinematic shot.

In Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), we get immersive and fantastical CGI action sequences set in the canal. Mayhem and destruction ensued after a somewhat tranquil gondola ride as Peter Parker faces Mysterio’s Elemental water giant. Rest assured, no real palazzos were harmed during filming.

The iconic Rialto Bridge is the oldest in Venice yet remains heavily used to this day. It stretches over the Grand Canal and features various covered stalls – the shopping extends to the bustling Mercato di Rialto market to its northwest.

One of the bridge’s most extensive depictions on the silver screen is in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Right after Tom Holland’s Peter Parker gets introduced to Mysterio’s illusory water monster, he’s thrust into action and onto the edge of this stone bridge. Small stalls selling knick-knacks on the bridge are also shown at a glance before Peter’s ordeal.

Palazzo Pisani Moretta stands gracefully with its Venetian Gothic floral facade on the northern side of the Grand Canal. The magnificent pink palace with a pier stands in as ‘Hotel Danieli’ as it welcomes Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie’s characters in The Tourist (2010).

The ‘luxury hotel’ room scenes we see in the movie were actual shots taken inside the palazzo’s set designer-enhanced rooms. In Casino Royale (2006), through the help of CGI and studio set wizardry, the pink building instead met its demise as it collapsed and sunk into the canal waters.

Leonardo Da Vinci Museum Venice is where you can discover the timeless works of the great artist and inventor. Located in the historic centre, it features interactive and multimedia exhibits that offer you a hands-on experience with Da Vinci’s various odd-looking flying devices and other articulated contraptions.

The museum isn’t depicted as frequently in movies as other Venetian landmarks – it gets only a slight mention in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). While Peter Parker has to deal with Mysterio’s water Elemental at the Rialto Bridge, the rest of his classmates go to visit the museum… only to find it’s closed. Life imitating art won’t be as pleasant, so do check opening times beforehand.

The Venetian Arsenal is home to old shipyards that greatly contributed to the naval power of the old Venetian republic. It used to mass-produce galleys on unique assembly lines and even gained mention in Dante’s Inferno.

Perhaps its marvellous history and architecture also inspired the filmmakers of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). In the movie, Peter Parker and Talos (disguised as Nick Fury) ride a gondola down the Arsenal… towards an underground secret Avengers base. Similarly, it stood in as Interpol headquarters in The Tourist (2010). In actuality, it’s simply worth seeing for its great historical and monumental value.

Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Maria Formosa is a Renaissance landmark in Venice with a towering campanile. It’s a beautiful sight facing the canal, and it features a collection of celebrated works by Venetian painters of the High Italian Renaissance inside.

In the movies, its elaborate campanile got knocked over by Mysterio via his Elemental in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) – Peter Pan couldn’t manage to save it with his web-shooters. In real life, the dome of the church did collapse following an earthquake in 1688 and got rebuilt. The whole church still stands, nevertheless, and is great for photos.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice showcases the private collection of post-1910 paintings and sculptures of the namesake American art collector and socialite. The grand white building is an 18^th-century palace that overlooks the canal. It can be considered a work of art on its own, complete with an interior sculpture garden.

The landmark has been immortalised in various classic films such as Sidney Pollack’s political thriller Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Woody Allen’s romantic comedy-drama Manhattan (1979). In The Tourist (2010), Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie’s characters enjoy a floating romantic dinner facing this majestic canalside landmark.

Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana is one of the world’s oldest public libraries and home to some of its most important classical texts. Also known as the Marciana Library or the Library of St Mark, it dates back to the Middle Ages and largely functions as a museum today.

The building’s grand architecture and library interiors stood in as an Italian police station in The Tourist (2010), where Johnny Depp’s Frank Tupelo is interrogated. It overlooks the square and you can catch a glimpse of the Doge’s Palace through a window in one of the scenes.

Campo San Barnaba is a charming square that features a small Neoclassical church of the same name in Venice’s sestiere of Dorsoduro. The landmark has featured in numerous films for its elegance and classical charm.

We get a hint of the square and the church’s exterior as it stands in as a library in the Spielberg-classic Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). It was also featured in the 2003 remake of the car-heist movie The Italian Job starring Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron. Further back in time, Katharine Hepburn's spinster character awkwardly splashed into the canal by the church as her camera’s saved by a bystanding boy in David Lean’s classic Summertime (1955).

San Giorgio Maggiore is a 16^th-century Benedictine church with a tower that offers some of the best views of Venice. The church is set on a small island of the same name across the waters from St Mark’s Square. Visitors often make the 5-minute vaporetto (boat taxi) ride to escape Venice’s crowds.

Michael Radford’s romantic drama film The Merchant of Venice (2004), based on Shakespeare's play, was shot in the former Benedictine monastery. The building and grounds finely suited the look of the era.

Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel is a 15^th-century palatial palace in the Cannaregio district of Venice. Among its main features are 2 decorated floors and balconies, as well as inner courtyards with outdoor staircases.

The building was featured in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s classic crime comedy-drama flick The Honey Pot (1967). In one of Heath Ledger’s earlier roles, he plays Italian adventurer and fabled romantic Giacomo Casanova in Lasse Hallström’s Casanova (2005) – most of the scenes were shot in this charming palace.