Two great marble lions flank the main gate of the Arsenale, a 16th-century brick shipyard where entire fleets were built, and which once symbolised the maritime might of Venice in northern Italy.

Today, its major arteries expensively fortified, the lagoon city retains its grandeur if not its clout: stone buildings with high arched windows still magically appear to float on the water. Pillars on the porches of palazzos – the Ducale with its white-and-pink geometric bricks; the Gothic-style riot that is the Doge’s Palace – rise gracefully toward the (blue, springtime) sky.