Examines the way in which Venice's unusual topography has influenced the form and type of the city's buildings. The text looks at the city's most important monuments such as the Rialto Bridge and the Basilica of San Marco, discusses important building types such as churches and palaces, and also looks at the urban fabric of the middle-class and working-class districts of the city. The buildings are set in their historical context and the text is illustrated with photographs, and paintings and prints by some of the artists who have recorded the canals and building of Venice, from Carpaccio and Bellini to Ruskin.