Close your eyes and imagine the scent of Venice five hundred years ago. The salt of the lagoon. The sweetness of amber and musk drifting from silk-lined palaces. The smoky perfume of incense rising from a chapel at dawn. For centuries, Venice was more than a city — it was the beating heart of the world’s spice and fragrance trade, where East met West in a swirl of exotic aromas.
Now, beginning in 2026, Tour Leader Venice will offer a new and truly sensorial experience: the Venetian Incense Experience — an immersive journey through scent, history, and art hosted in collaboration with Anbesa, Venice’s renowned “kingdom of incense.”
Step inside the Incensarium of Venice and let your senses travel back to the time when spices were worth more than gold — and when every Venetian merchant, apothecary, and perfumer dealt in the most delicate luxury of all: fragrance.
🌍 Venice: The Perfumed Crossroads of the World
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Venice was more than the Queen of the Adriatic — it was the center of a global network connecting Europe with the East. Its ships sailed through the Stato da Mar, the maritime empire that stretched from the Dalmatian coast to the Aegean and beyond. From Alexandria and Constantinople to Goa and Aden, merchants of the Serenissima traded not only silk and gemstones, but the most coveted substances of all: spices and incense.
Frankincense from Arabia. Myrrh from Somalia. Sandalwood from India. Labdanum from Crete. These rare aromatics traveled along the ancient Silk Route, the Spice Route, and the Frankincense Route — finally arriving at Venice’s bustling markets in Rialto, where the air was thick with their scent.
In the candlelit apothecaries and perfumeries of Renaissance Venice, these ingredients were transformed into balms, oils, and perfumes for nobles and priests alike. Incense was burned in churches, in aristocratic homes, and even aboard ships, believed to ward off disease and purify the air. Aromatic smoke became both a symbol of faith and a mark of sophistication.
“Venice didn’t just sell incense,” explains the founder of Anbesa. “It lived through it. Every scent told a story of exploration, exchange, and art.”
🕯️ A Living Museum of Scents: The Anbesa Incense Kingdom
Hidden near the heart of Venice lies Anbesa, a place that feels less like a store and more like a time capsule. Founded after twenty years of research and travel through the Middle East and Far East, this intimate showroom has become one of the most extraordinary collections of aromatic materials in Europe. Stepping through its doors is like crossing the threshold of another world — one where history speaks through fragrance.
From raw resins and tree barks to precious woods and sacred gums, Anbesa’s Incensarium houses hundreds of natural aromatics that once made the Republic of Venice rich and powerful. Each one has a story: the shimmering tears of frankincense, the deep warmth of myrrh, the creamy sweetness of sandalwood, the smoky mystery of oud.
And starting in 2026, guests will be able to discover them all in the Venetian Incense Experience, a collaboration between Tour Leader Venice and Anbesa that transforms scent into storytelling.
✨ The Venetian Incense Experience (Launching 2026)
This one-of-a-kind event will take place inside Anbesa’s private showroom — described by those who know it as “the kingdom of incense.” Here, participants will embark on a multi-sensory journey that blends history, botany, and olfactory art, guided by experts who have spent decades studying the ancient trade routes of the Serenissima.
🕰️ Part One: The Story of Aromatic Venice
The experience begins with a fascinating tale of the city’s merchant past. You’ll learn how Venice became the European gateway for exotic goods — from spices and resins to perfumes and medicinal herbs — imported from the Middle East and Far East. Your guide will bring to life the era of the Stato da Terra and the Stato da Mar, when Venetian vessels were the first true production chain in maritime history.
Through storytelling and historical artifacts, you’ll trace the routes of ancient trade: the Silk Route, the Spice Route, and the Frankincense Route. You’ll discover how these ingredients shaped Venetian wealth, art, and even religion — from the incense clouds of St. Mark’s Basilica to the perfumed oils that adorned nobles at masked balls.
🌿 Part Two: The Olfactory Journey
The second half of the experience is pure sensory wonder. You’ll be invited to smell, touch, and explore a curated selection of rare aromatic materials from Anbesa’s vast collection — the Incensarium. Guided by scent experts, you’ll travel across time and geography through the aromas of:
- Frankincense — the sacred resin once carried by Arabian caravans to Venice’s ports.
- Myrrh — prized for its bittersweet, mystical depth and used in ancient medicine and rituals.
- Sandalwood — the smooth, creamy wood from India that perfumed Venetian palaces.
- Oud — the dark, hypnotic scent from Asia, loved by emperors and perfumers alike.
- Labdanum — the resin of the Cistus plant, known as the soul of amber perfumes.
- Copal and Mastic — resins used in sacred ceremonies and artistic varnishes.
As the fragrances unfold, the experience becomes something transcendent — a bridge between cultures and centuries. Every scent tells a story: of merchants and monks, of distant deserts and Venetian workshops filled with glass bottles, silk pouches, and handwritten recipes.
💎 A Tribute to Venice’s Merchant Soul
This isn’t just an olfactory workshop. It’s a celebration of Venice’s identity as a city of merchants, explorers, and dreamers. The same curiosity that once drove Venetian ships across the seas now inspires a new generation of artisans and storytellers. Anbesa’s philosophy mirrors that of Tour Leader Venice: to honor tradition while creating new ways for travelers to connect with the city’s soul.
“We’re not selling perfumes,” says Anbesa’s founder with a smile. “We’re sharing Venice’s memory through scent.”
Guests who take part in the Venetian Incense Experience will leave with more than knowledge — they’ll carry a lingering sense of wonder, like the trace of incense that clings softly to the air long after the flame has gone out.
🌸 Aromas, Art, and the Spirit of Discovery
What makes this experience uniquely Venetian is its balance of art and scholarship. Every fragrance you encounter is tied to a historical narrative — from the Frankincense carried by merchant fleets to the precious essences used by Renaissance painters to prepare varnishes and pigments.
Participants will also learn how these materials influenced the worlds of art, medicine, and ritual. Frankincense and myrrh once filled Venetian churches during Mass; sandalwood was ground into powders used by artists; labdanum perfumed the robes of nobility. The scents of Venice weren’t just luxuries — they were a language, a way of life.
For centuries, merchants recorded their aromatic inventories in ledgers now kept in Venetian archives. Reading them today is like opening a forgotten perfume bottle — every page redolent with spice, resin, and history.
âš“ The Routes That Built an Empire
The experience also explores the grand maritime story behind these scents. You’ll learn about the Arsenale of Venice — the world’s first large-scale shipyard and a marvel of pre-industrial efficiency. Here, thousands of craftsmen once built vessels that carried incense and spices across the Mediterranean and beyond. Each galley was both a machine of commerce and a floating cathedral of scent, its cargo perfuming the sea breeze long before reaching port.
From Cairo to Calicut, Venice’s merchants followed the winds of profit and perfume alike. Their legacy is still visible today in the architecture, art, and even cuisine of the city — echoes of a past where every aroma told a tale of adventure.
🌺 The Modern Revival: Scent as Cultural Heritage
In recent years, scent has become an art form in its own right, celebrated by museums and luxury houses around the world. But in Venice, it has always been more than art — it’s heritage. With the launch of the Venetian Incense Experience in 2026, Tour Leader Venice and Anbesa are restoring this invisible thread of Venetian history to its rightful place.
Guests will not only explore ancient aromatics but also witness how incense is prepared, blended, and burned. They’ll learn the ritual of scent — how each fragrance reveals its character through time and temperature, how Venetian traders once identified quality, and how these ancient techniques continue to inspire modern perfumers.
It’s a meditative, almost spiritual journey — one that connects the physical with the intangible, the visible with the invisible.
🌅 Venice, Rediscovered Through Scent
For those who have walked Venice’s streets countless times, this experience offers something entirely new: a way to smell the city’s history. Imagine strolling through Rialto’s spice markets in your mind, or standing inside the Arsenale as ships unload their fragrant treasures. The Venetian Incense Experience brings that world to life — not through sight or sound, but through the oldest sense of all: smell.
It’s also the perfect complement to TLV’s other immersive experiences, from the Off-the-Beaten-Path Orientation Tour to the Inside Tessitura Bevilacqua Workshop and the Cicchetti & Wine Tour — each one revealing a different layer of Venetian life, from taste to touch to scent.
✨ Plan Your Visit for 2026
The Venetian Incense Experience will open exclusively through Tour Leader Venice in early 2026. Spaces will be limited to ensure a truly intimate atmosphere inside Anbesa’s incense showroom.
- đź“Ť Location: Anbesa Incensarium, Venice
- 🕰️ Duration: 90 minutes of storytelling and olfactory immersion
- 🌿 Languages: English, Italian
- đź’Ž Included: Guided olfactory experience, private access to aromatic materials, and a curated incense sample
Want to be among the first to experience it? Join the waiting list today or explore our current artisan journeys while you wait:
- Venetian Sewing Experience
- Tessitura Bevilacqua Tour
- Mosaic Creation Workshop
- Murano Glassblowing Workshop
From 2026, let Venice speak to you through scent. Because sometimes, the city reveals its deepest secrets not through what you see — but through what you breathe.
Follow the Fragrance
Stay updated on the launch of the Venetian Incense Experience by following the Tour Leader Venice Blog and subscribing to our newsletter. Discover more artisan stories, slow lagoon journeys, and sensory adventures that bring Venice’s legacy to life.
Venice is a story written in scent — and the next chapter begins in 2026.
