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The church of St Mary the Virgin in Pirton is in the middle of the village. The early church was constructed in the 1100s. Various changes were made over the centuries with a restoration and rebuilt tower in 1883. The walls in the chancel date from about 1330.
Most of the windows are from the 1400s. We were privileged to have a tour of Pirton by Rev. John Potipher who served the church along with his wife, who is my cousin. They gave us the top photo in 1995. The other photos are from 30 September 1996.
A look inside St Mary's church.
St Mary church cemetery
The parish records include Baptisms 1562-1776; burials 1558-1776, and marriages 1560-1753.
We awoke to see the rain decorating our hotel window, but we headed to Venice (Italian, Venezia) as planned. Despite the grey skies, the boat ride to the city was awesome. The boat from the mainland parking area takes visitors to a dock a few bridges walk from the entry to St Mark's Square.
Approaching Venice by boat
Rain at hotel Poppi near Venice
We headed to a Murano glass factory, which was close to St Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco)--so many brilliant and expensive examples of their work. (Link- about Murano glass). Tip- there are no charge toilets in the factory showroom.
St Mark's Basilica was first built in the 800s then rebuilt in the 11th Century with facade work dating to the 12-15th centuries. It has been the cathedral of Venice since 1807. The Basilica was too big to capture in a photo so I took a short video clip. It's outer height is 141 feet. In 2019, there was no charge to enter the Basilica but the lines can be long. (Link to Basilica website)
On St Mark's Basilica, there's a lot of artistry to appreciate -- here's a few examples.
Restaurants and shops vie for tourists attention as they examine the other old buildings in St Mark's Square.
We headed through the arch beneath the clock on a quest to find the famed Rialto Bridge--it's the oldest of the four bridges over the Grand Canal in Venice. It was first built in the 1100s and rebuilt a few times since then. Tip- look up to see signs on buildings pointing the way to Rialto Bridge at one end of Venice and St Mark's at the other end.
At the Rialto Bridge
Here's a view of the canal and surrounds from the Rialto Bridge.
We were booked on a gondola ride for 11:00 a.m. We were fortunate the rain held off -- we were told the gondoliers do not work when it's raining. We shared a boat with four others so we got the photo at this top of this post from a fellow traveler. Here's a short video of the experience--you can hear the musician in the neighboring boat. Only one comfortable seat per gondola. I didn't shoot a lot of video so I could enjoy the experience.
I'll add a Venice collage below.
Notes
Restaurant service in Venice and elsewhere in Italy is slow so it depends how much time you want to spend having a relaxing lunch versus other experiences.
Toilets (WC symbol) can be found throughout the city and in restaurants. In the city you will need Euro coins for the WC.
Maps of Venice can be confusing because of the multiple narrow lanes. The two orienting points mentioned above are very helpful (Rialto Bridge, St Mark's Square).
