Site of the Venice International Grandmasters chess tournament between Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal) and Mac Adams (Peter Madden) in From Russia with Love. It’s also the ultimate destination for Bond (Sean Connery) and Tania (Daniela Bianchi) when they leave Yugoslavia in a stolen motorboat later in the same film.

In Moonraker, Venice is a principal location and the site of a spirited gondola chase that eventually turns into a ridiculous hovercraft ride.

In Casino Royale, it’s where James Bond (Daniel Craig) recuperates with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) before he retrieves his considerable poker winnings. Unfortunately, Vesper betrays him, steals the money, and prepares to give it to Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and his SPECTRE henchmen. Bond chases her down, fights a swarm of bad guys, and destroys a canal-adjacent building in the process—a building in which a guilt-ridden Vesper is trapped in a sunken freight elevator, and prefers to let herself drown rather than accept the help of the man she betrayed.