Venice is not only home to some of the most iconic sights in Italy, but has also served as the setting of many popular films, from Nicolas Roeg’s eerie Mystery-Drama Don’t Look Now to recent blockbusters like Spiderman: Far from Home.
One of my favourite movies that was shot in the lagoon city is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and during our recent visit to Venice, we took some time to locate the various filming locations around town.
Read on to find out about some of the more picturesque and exciting places that everyone’s favourite fictional archaeologist visits in the film.
Exploring the Filming Locations of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in Venice, Italy
While some of the locations below only appear in the film for a few seconds, all of them are worth visiting, as they afford great vistas of the city (which is probably why they were picked as filming locations in the first place). I decided to sort them in the order they appear in the movie.
Arrival in Venice
Indy and Marcus Brody arrive in the Lagoon City in proper style by boat. They step off onto firm ground at Fondamente Salute in Dorsoduro, close to the Punta della Dogana at the eastern tip of the borough.
When coming here, you’ll have a great view of St. Mark’s Square with the Doge’s Palace and the iconic Campanile, which you can also spot in the background behind the arriving passengers.
Strolling through the City
After Indy and Marcus are greeted by Elsa Schneider, the trio walks past a small canal on their way to the library. The alley they walk along is Fondamente del Squero in the northwestern part of Dorsoduro.
Indy nicks a flower before they cross the small Ponte dei Pugni Bridge across Rio San Barnaba and continue along Fondamenta Gherardini to their destination.
The San Barnaba Library
Easily the most recognizable filming location is the Church of San Barnaba, which stands in for the library, in which Indy and Co look for the tomb of the Grail Knight. For once, the transition in the movie isn’t a result of clever cutting, but the small square actually connects to the Fondamenta Gherardini that the trio walked along before.
Same as in the film, the real church is decommissioned, but when you enter, you won’t find the atmospheric library from the movie (which was constructed in the UK’s Elstree Studios). Instead, the interior of San Barnaba serves as a museum hosting varying exhibitions (when we were there, they had an exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci).
If you’re looking for the manhole that Indy climbs out of to the shock and confusion of the surrounding tourists, you’ll be disappointed, as that was inserted as a prop, but you can at least recreate part of the scene by getting a drink in one of the square’s many cafés.
The End of the Motorboat Chase
The majority of the action-packed chase sequence between Indy, Elsa and the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword was shot in England, but the end of the sequence was filmed along Venice’s Canale Grande in the southwestern part of the San Marco Neighborhood.
When Kazim, a member of the Brotherhood, leaves the boat, you can see the iconic domes and spires of Santa Maria della Salute Church in the background. To get to the filming location, you’ll have to cross Campo Pisani to the east of the Ponte de’ll Accademia and follow the small alleyway to the south until you reach the Canale Grande.
Map of Venice with the Indiana Jones Filming Locations
In the following map of southern Venice, you’ll find all the filming locations mentioned in this article.
See also
Visiting the Filming Locations of BBC’s Death in Paradise in Deshaies, Guadeloupe
