Where better to begin than with St. Mark's Basilica, named after and dedicated to the patron saint of the city?

It was built in the 11th century, though many modifications have been made, and features a glorious mixture of Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque architecture.

Right next to the basilica you've got the campanile, a free-standing bell tower.

It's a reconstruction of the original, which was started in the 10th century and rebuilt in the early 16th century. That tower collapsed in 1902 and was itself rebuilt, brick for brick, by 1912.

Then, on the other three sides of St Mark's Square, are the Procuratie.

Running through the middle of it all is the Grand Canal. You can see St Mark's Square, the basilica, and the campanile at the bottom right.

Here's a view looking out from the Grand Canal and into the Venetian Lagoon:

That domed building on the right is the iconic Santa Maria della Salute, a wonderful (and octagonal) Baroque church built in 1631 after a severe outbreak of the plague.

Venice is made up of several islands. One of them is San Giorgio Maggiore, once home to a Benedictine monastery. It has its own campanile and a basilica designed by none other than the legendary architect Andrea Palladio himself.

Venice is also a city of bridges. The most famous being, perhaps, the Rialto. It spans the Grand Canal and was built in the late 16th century.

But then there's the Bridge of Sighs, beloved of the Romantic poet Lord Byron. It connects the Doge's Palace with a prison and was, so legend says, the place from which the condemned would enjoy their final view of Venice before incarceration. Hence the sighs...

And speaking of the Doge's Palace, it's a majestic 14th century expression of the uniquely Venetian form of Gothic architecture, heavily influenced by Byzantine and Islamic styles.

The Doge was the ruler of the Republic of Venice, elected for life by the nobility.

But Venice is a city of many palaces, or palazzi, rising impossibly out of the water.

Such as the Ca' Loredan or the Palazzo Grimani di San Luca, both former homes of noble Venetian families. Imperious houses like these line the Grand Canal.

And Venice is also a city of innumerable churches, like the San Giacomo di Rialto, supposedly the oldest church in the city, which includes a huge 15th century clock.

No discussion of Venice is complete without mentioning the art it has inspired.

From the great veduti artists of the 17th century, such as Canaletto, who created vast and highly detailed cityscapes:

To the Romantic and Impressionist painters of the 19th century, like Turner and Monet, who found in the waters of Venice a city of colour and light unlike anything else:

But no short thread can do justice the immensity of Venice's architectural wonders, whether its most famous buildings or the delights along every canal, street, and square.

For it seems that even the most ordinary parts of Venice's old town are infinitely charming.

Of course, every city has its problems, and for Venice the centuries-old battle with the waters on which it has been built is unending.

Plus the tourists - nearly five million visited Venice in 2019. But who can blame them?

Is there anywhere else in the world quite like Venice?