In this section we explore the sights - the spectacles, customs, manners and morals - which struck visitors to Venice on the Grand Tour and beyond.   Venice was, and is still today, renowned as a centre for entertainment and spectacle, most famously the Carnival.  In the heyday of the Grand Tour there were also regattas, firework displays, feast days such as the Festa del Redentore when bridges were made from boats, which still take place today. Perhaps most famous was an event which has not taken place since the fall of the Republic: the Sposalizio del Mar - when the Doge symbolically married the sea.   In this section we also look at opera and music and art; casinos, gondolas, gondoliers and courtesans; hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés; and shops. To find out more, click on the icons above.