Discover Punta della Dogana

A long low brick customs building filling the triangular tip of Dorsoduro, where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca canal. It narrows to a point at the water with a tower at the end, and it sits almost at sea level — so from the vaporetto the whole structure reads as a wedge laid flat on the lagoon, diagonally opposite the Piazzetta.

Giuseppe Benoni's 1682 rebuilding gave the customs house its long, triangular footprint, following the point of land where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal.

At the building's tip, a small tower carries Venice's own weathervane landmark: two bronze figures of Atlas supporting a golden globe, topped by a rotating figure representing Fortune. Tadao Ando's 2009 renovation kept the exterior largely intact while inserting minimalist concrete gallery walls within the original brick and timber structure.