The city of Venice has for centuries been synonymous with great art, music and festivals. The city however has not only a wealth of historical culture and tradition, as exemplified in the Carnival and the Fenice Opera House, but also strong links with the contemporary world in, for example, the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and the Biennale Festivals.

Sited in the Palazzo Venier dei Leone on the bank of the Grand Canal, the Peggy Guggenheim museum houses a fascinating collection of modern art which is smaller and more idiosyncratic than that of the other Guggenheim Foundation Museums. The Palazzo itself is unusual in that only one of the four intended floors was constructed. Peggy Guggenheim, who was once married to Max Ernst, lived here from 1946 to 1979. The museum, its gardens and courtyards display, not only Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection, but also works from the Gianni Mattioli and Nasher Sculpture Collections. It is the most important museum of European and American Modern Art of the first half of the 20th century in Italy. Here you will find Cubism, Futurism, Metaphysical painting, avant garde sculpture, surrealism and American Abstract Expressionism. These works include pieces by Picasso, Mondian, Miro, Ernst, Magritte, Pollock, Dali and Modigliani. Besides these there are temporary exhibitions and a collection of ethnic art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas.

Venice displays the work of today's most important artists and sculptors at the Biennale d'Arte Contemporanea, the world's most important art show. Now one of the most prestigious cultural organisations in the world, the Biennale has been organising this international event since 1895. The art exhibition, as its name suggests, is held every two years, on odd numbered years. Other festivals for music, dance, architecture, theatre and film were added in the 1930s. Most of the art is exhibited in permanent pavilions in the light filled Giardini on the Lido. The Aperto, which began as a fringe event for younger artists, is now part of the programme and has found a home in the Arsenale. But during the festival you will come across works of art and sculpture throughout the city, seemingly placed at random, at a corner, on a wall, in a little piazza.

One of the big events of world film-making, the Venice Film Festival, is part of the Biennale, but held annually. This is the oldest, most prestigious, most stylish film Festival. Screenings are held in the purpose built Palazzo del Cinema. International directors and actors, including A-listers from Tinseltown, walk the red carpet eager to see who will gain the coveted awards - the Leone d'Oro for best film, the Coppa Volpi for best actors and the San Marco for best innovative film. It is hoped a brand new film fest complex to host this event will be completed by 2011.

Italy, which is today so renowned for its cinema, has been, for centuries, famous for its music, particularly operatic work, staged in opulent opera houses. One of the most famous of these theatres is Venice's "La Fenice" - meaning the Phoenix. Rarely has a building been so aptly named - originally the San Benedetto Theatre, it was destroyed by fire in 1774, 1836 and again in 1996. After much debate, La Fenice opened again in 2003, with a programme of Beethoven, Stravinsky, Caldara and Wagner. Today's La Fenice has been rebuilt, as far as possible, in 19th century style, using a design by Aldo Rossi and with the aid of stills from the opening scenes of Luchino Visconti's 1954 film "Senso". With its five tiers of gilt embellished boxes, vast stage and faithfully reproduced Baroque décor the old theatre has been recreated - but looking fresher and brighter.

Venice is well known for its festivals and of all of these the Carnival has to be the liveliest. Brightening up the dreary, misty, wet, and often cold, month of February, Carnevale lasts for ten days. The festival begins with crowds gathering to see 2the flight of the Angel", - when an artist, dressed as an angel "flies" from St. Mark's bell tower to the Palazzo Ducale and opens the celebrations. The city fills with masked revellers in eighteenth century costume, harlequins and dominoes. And, as befits all Italian festivities, food is very much part of Carnevale - gnocchi and lasagne in rich sauces, sausages and roasts, sugary fritole and galani pastries.