The ancient city of Venice draws 30 million visitors a year, and for good reason. The canals, the architecture, the art, the food, the singular beauty—there’s no place in the world like it. The city’s only drawback, you could argue, is its popularity with tourists (and the many, many shops that cater to them).
LIFE photographers ventured to this picturesque city many times for many reasons—popping in on Peggy Guggenheim, for example—but this story is built off two shoots by Dmitri Kessel. Both were done in the 1950s, and they are very different. Kessel shot Venice in 1959 during the peak of summer with a focus on the American tourists who thronged there, and the other shoot was done in 1952, in winter, when the streets were largely empty and also flooded in areas, as tends to happen that time of year.
The moods could not be more different. During the summer a navy of gondoliers rule the waterways and visitors fill Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark’s Square, while in the winter those boats are all tied up. The two constants are the stunning architecture and the pigeons. Even in the winter, a local woman finds the time to give the birds a little attention.
The real message of this shoots is that Venice is beautiful in every circumstance.
American tourists sightseeing in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in a gondola in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Tourists in a gondolas, Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Americans in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists gathering in Saint Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in a gondola, Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
American tourists in Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Venice, Italy, 1959.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Moored gondolas on a foggy Grand Canal in Venice, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The Doge’s Palace on a rainy day in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Pedestrians threading their way along makeshift wooden sidewalk across a flooded Piazza San Marco during its usual winter condition, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A flooded Venice, Italy in the winter of 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Moored gondola on Grand Canal in front of Piazza San Marco during off-season in Venice, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Moored gondolas in canal that runs between ancient buildings of Venice, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The flooded Piazza San Marco during off-season in Venice, Italy, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Venice, Italy during off-season, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A local woman fed the pigeons in the Piazza San Marco on a rainy day, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Pigeons flocking above pedestrians crossing Piazza San Marco on a rainy Venice day, 1952.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
