The Italian Ministry of Heritage and Culture opens for ten days lots of monuments, museums, archaeological sites, archives, libraries with large popular events throughout the whole country.
Thousands of events: exhibitions, conferences, special openings, workshops, guided tours and concerts that will make more special the experience for all the visitors.
This year, the 12th edition of the “Culture Week” will take place from  April 16th to 25th.
The main purpose of this initiative is to promote culture awareness and to transmit the love of art to an ever wider audience of citizens that, for seven days, can choose from exhibitions, conferences, workshops, guided tours, concerts, shows , film showings and special openings in all regions of Italy.
Museums and Palaces in Venice will open their doors to experts and enthusiasts, through the organization of free guided tours and themed itineraries.

The main attractions that will open their doors free to the public are:
• The “Ca d’Oro” and the tour exhibition of Flemish tapestries of the 16th century.
• The Museum of Oriental Art and the opportunity to see some masks representative of traditional Japanese Noh theater.
• The  “Gallerie dell’Accademia”, where for the first time there will be organized the show of two drawings by Jacopo Tintoretto and Francesco Guardi, acquired in 2009.
• The “Palazzo Foscari”, last residence of the Doge Francesco Foscari and now seat of the Venice University, which hosted illustriouscharacters such as Henry III of Valois, King of France and Poland.
• The “Palazzo Grimani”, a noble residence in Venice of the sixteenth century.
• The “Libreria Sansoviniana”, with the inauguration of the exhibition ” Tesori della musica veneta del Cinquecento. La policolarità Giovanni Matteo Asola e Giovanni Croce”.
• The Provincial Museum of Torcello - Archaeological Section and Section Medieval and Modern, which includes ruins and artifacts related to the island and lagoon.
• The “Arsenale”, whose visit will be preceded by an introductory lesson by the architect Claudio Menichelli in cooperation with the Maritime Research Center.
• The house of the famous Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto.
• The National Archaeological Museum of Venice.

For more information or details regarding specific dates and opening hours, please visit the website: www.beniculturali.it

A new and enthralling way to visit Venice and its treasures: what  you need is only a map, a “whaiwhai” notebook and a mobile. “Whaiwhai” is an interactive story and a particular hunt to Venice treasures, to discover the most original and exciting aspects of the city.

In order to participate to this adventure, it is necessary to buy a whaiwhai notebook on the website or in one of the bookshops of the city. Once you bought the notebook that contains the stories that will drive you in the several places of the research, just to start, it is sufficient to send a message to a mobile number you find in the notebook.

To read the several stories about Venice, you should obtain the codes that will be sent you by sms: only in this way you could reassemble the pages, read what is written and know some peculiarities of the city where the discover will continue.

In order to proceed with the research, you should solve some riddles, sending the solution by sms to the number you find in our notebook ( the cost of a sms is the cost fixed by your operator). The notebook contains lots of stories and it will permit to play with whaiwhai till three times and to do different journeys in every treasure hunt. We will wait for you in Venice to look for some clues and to discover new hidden places of this wonderful and unique city.

Sunday Guided Tour: from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. than a suggestive aperitif in our Sant’Elena hotel.

Meeting point at the Hotel Sant’Elena of Venice for the tour “Between Convents and Gardens of Sant’Elena” escorted by the architect Mrs Gabriella Bondi part of the Wigwam Club Giardini Storici di Venezia.

Departure will be the grassy court of the formal monastic complex of Mantellate, built in the thirties which today hosts the elegant Hotel Sant’Elena.

A sophisticated aperitif, arranged by The Chef Giovanni Montella, will be served between the splash of roses’ colors and officinal herbs.

An introduction to the History of this marvelous part of Venice still not assaulted by tourists, will be offered on the spot.

A guided walk will take us to the near Sant’Elena island, located at the oriental extremity of Venice, where we will visit orts, fifteenth-century kiosk and the Church of the Convent complex dedicated to the mother of Emperor Costantino.

For centuries a thriving cultural and artistic center with very well furnished library of the venetian lagoon, its origin are very ancient and date back to XI Century.

We’ll walk through the recent area born from drainages Vittorio Emanuele III, crossed by rows of big linden trees of the Viale IV Novembre and the breezy pine wood facing the Basin of San Marco reachable crossing a bridge from the Gardens of the Biennale.