After lunch we move on to St. Mark’s Square, an elegant square whose cafes and hidden corners have been the scene of many a seducer’s erotic adventures. Behind the square, in calle Vallaresso, you can find what was once the famous Ridotto, now part of the Hotel Monaco & Gran Canal and a favorite venue for Venetians and non-Venetians alike to celebrate weddings, ceremonies and anniversaries, but which was once the gambling house where Casanova, hiding behind a mysterious disguise, spent many hours gambling in the company of Venetian noblemen while waiting for one of his gallant encounters. At the end of the street is Harry’s bar, the Cipriani family bar, a favorite destination of many artists, writers and poets including the famous seductive poet Lord Byron, which surely would have been so of our Casanova had he lived a few years later! Here for the most romantic we recommend a stop to enjoy the atmosphere of this place while sipping an excellent Bellini artfully prepared by Arrigo… Before leaving the Piazza we suggest a visit to the Piombi, the terrible prisons of the Doge’s Palace, accessed by crossing the Bridge of Sighs, where Casanova was sentenced to spend 5 years of imprisonment, but from which he managed to escape after 15 months through a hole in the ceiling.

Palazzo Merati, a palace now owned by Count Emile Targhetta D’Audifret, where the mother and sisters of Giacomo Casanova, born in 1707, lived. In this wealthy apartment, the only one still remaining in the area where Casanova lived when he returned to Venice after receiving a pardon, is still the alcove complete with four-poster bed and stucco work where the famous seducer consummated his nocturnal adventures with Venetian ladies.

Toward Rialto you will find the sotoportego dei Do Mori and you can stop at the tavern of the same name, where, since the 1500s, they have been preparing cicheti and typical Venetian dishes that you can enjoy while sipping an excellent malvasia, just as Casanova used to do, when he used to stop here to wait for his mistresses and chat with patrons. Continuing towards the fish market, in Campo delle Beccarie, you can instead stop at the ancient restaurant trattoria Poste Vecie, open since the 1500s, where, again, Casanova used to indulge in a few banquets.

From Fondamenta Nove continue to Campo San Maurizio (Actv stop Santa Maria del Giglio): in this very campo with the recognizable leaning bell tower, in the palace on the right, now the headquarters of Catholic Action, lived the erotic Venetian poet Giorgio Baffo, who exerted a profound influence on the young Casanova, initiating him into the art of seduction and who was a great suitor of Casanova’s mother, the actress Giovanna Farussi, known as La Buranella.

From the pier in St. Mark’s Square (San Zaccaria) take the vaporetto to Murano, the last stop on our itinerary to the places of Casanova. One of the most legendary adventures of the seducer took place on this island: the love affair with M.M., the mysterious cloistered nun from the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Murano.