Much of the graceful city-centre area north of Corso Italia dates to the 18th-century reign of Empress Maria Theresa, including the photogenic Canal Grande. Reflecting centuries of religious tolerance, it's here you'll also find the mosaic-laden 1868 Serbian Orthodox Chiesa di Santo Spiridione juxtaposed with the neoclassical 1842 Catholic Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Taumaturgo. On the Via Roma bridge stands a life-sized statue of James Joyce; Piazza Hortis is home to a similar bronze of Italo Svevo.