Soul of Venice Book Review

The Soul of Venice is a new travel guidebook from Jonglez which provides a guide to 30 exceptional experiences in the city of canals.

We’re big fans of the Jonglez ‘Secret’ series of travel guides, and have reviewed many of them, including Secret Venice, Secret Liverpool, and Secret Amsterdam. Their new ‘Soul of’ series is a clever idea, with the books focusing on 30 exceptional experiences in cities including Lisbon and Los Angeles, both of which we’re reviewed and raved over.

We say that the idea is clever because although they are primarily aimed at the millions of tourists who visit the world’s major cities every year, they will appeal just as much to the people who live in them, as like the ‘Secret’ guides they uncover some hidden aspects of the cities you think you know so well.

Soul of Venice

Unlike the ‘Secret’ guides, however, you will find entries in the ‘Soul of’ guides that everyone knows about, like the Rialto Market. How can you sum up the soul of a city like Venice without including what the authors describe as the most beautiful market in the world. And we’re not arguing with that.

Soul of Venice Authors

So who was given the task that is both enviable and unenviable, of having to portray Venice in only 30 experiences? One is the publisher himself, Thomas Jonglez, who spent five years researching Secret Venice, where he lived for seven years and where he still owns a small fisherman’s house that enables him to return regularly.

The second author of Soul of Venice is Servane Giol, who is married to a Venetian and who has lived in Venice with her husband and four children for over 20 years.

Soul of Venice Format

The Soul of Venice sets its stall out right at the start by telling readers what they won’t find in this particular travel guide – things like how to book a gondola tour or the opening hours for the Doge’s Palace.

What readers will find include a bookshop that’s taking on water, medieval artisans, and something we all want to know: what’s the best restaurant in Venice? Oh, and where to find the best sandwich in Venice! And a very distinctive ice cream. Yes, this is a Venice guide that will definitely appeal to food lovers. You can’t have a guide to any Italian city without highlighting its food in some way.

Entries

Each of the 30 entries gets either a two-page spread or a four-page spread. The layout is clean, with lots of white space, and the photography by Francesca Lanaro is brilliant, as are the illustrations by Clara Mari. The authors enhance the entries by also including interview with interesting Venetians, such as costume designer Catherine Buyse Dian, who give their own insights into life in this unique city.

St Mark’s Basilica

Just as you can’t fail to mention the Rialto Market, you have to include St Mark’s Basilica somewhere. Yes, it is going to be crowded with visitors, but the authors of Soul of Venice tell you how to avoid the crowds by visiting outside the official opening hours.

The Best View in Venice

The book advises you to forget the view from the Campanile in St Mark’s Square, which in normal times will always be thronging with visitors. Head instead, they say, to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore and climb the bell tower there. They prove their point by showing the view from the tower, which is indeed sublime, with Venice spread out before you against a backdrop of the distant mountains. The book is worth buying just for this, and for a spectacular double-page photo of the fireworks during the July Festa del Redentore (Festival of the Redeemer).