Corto MalteseCorto Maltese

Secrets of Venice

Game Details:  Adventure, 2014

Links:  Moby Games, Steam, Adventure Gamers

Walkthrough Updated:  6/27/2017

Suggested Listening:  Give Up Now (Ash 25)

Corto Maltese: Secrets of Venice is a point-and-click adventure game filled with puzzles, set in Venice and based on a comic book character of the same name. There are 6 Broken Achievements, all documented below but inaccessible at the time of writing this walkthrough.

Porta dei Libri

Talk to Floriano Gozzi at the bar, then drink the alcohol you are offered. You will receive the compass and the Gazette. There are two codes provided in the Enigma section of the first page of the Gazette. Use the compass and click on the top face, then enter either the top code (Profane/Easy) or the bottom code (Insider/Difficult) to determine the difficulty level of the next puzzle; this same mechanism is used to determine puzzle difficulty throughout the game.

Profane Route

Turn the compass to the next illuminated face to see a riddle about triangles. Turn to the answer face of the compass and enter "10".

Insider Route

Search Google for "Libreria acqua alta di Frizzo Luigi" and search for a comment by Marina Seminova that will give you the solution. Turn to the answer face of the compass and enter "777".

Now the compass will work, so you can leave the bar. Once you reach the library, read the section of the Gazette called "La Duchessa Seminova" to get a clue, then find the book "White Fang" by Jack London. Talk to the man in the window, then examine the book again to find a vaporetto ticket. Also pick up the small bottle near the bottom right (Prepared Opium). Now you can leave the library.

Once you reach the docks, head right to the cemetery and examine the gravestone at the top right to see 2 sets of symbols. Enter one of these into the compass.

Profane Route

Turn the compass to the illuminated face, and solve 5 puzzles where you need to connect the dots of the same color. Look at the gravestone again and rotate the 3 concentric circles to complete a picture around the fixed disc in the middle.

Insider Route

Turn the compass to the illuminated face, and solve 5 puzzles where you need to connect the dots of the same color (the final puzzle is slightly harder in this route). Look at the new illuminated side of the compass, then search online for the full text of the book "Stories Toto Told Me" to find the circled word. Look at the gravestone again and rotate the 3 concentric circles to spell out the word "Paolo" from top to bottom.

Pick up the emerald petal and another ingredient (Human Ashes). Click on the pigeons to create a distraction, then talk to the man back at the docks, before getting into the boat Marina Seminova.

Porta della Rivoluzione

Talk to the man in the boat, Occhi di Cristallo. Read the next Enigma section of the Gazette to get two more codes and enter one of them into the compass.

Profane Route

You need to decode the telephone-encoded message. Turn around to the answer face and enter "San Erasmo".

Insider Route

Enter the provided coordinates into Google Maps to find a location. Turn around to the answer face and enter "San Erasmo".

Talk to the man holding the shotgun, William Butler Yeats, who requests a password. Look at your compass and enter the 3 symbols from the wall here. Turn the compass to the illuminated face, and solve another 5 puzzles where you need to connect the dots of the same color. Talk to the man again to give him the password. Now examine the door on the building behind him to see a map with 2 sets of symbols. Enter one of these into the compass.

Profane Route

Look at the 3 photographs on the illuminated face, then turn around to the answer face and enter "EI4F".

Insider Route

Find the location on Google Maps and follow the instructions to find a mailbox with a 3-digit number. Turn around to the answer face and enter "110".

Pick up the next ingredient (Spanish Wine) and look at the new items in your Gazette. Talk to Yeats again, then after the bomb is thrown into the room, examine the keypad. Enter the codeword "BIOLESS" upside down (5537018). In the next room, collect another ingredient (Long Pepper). Enter the symbols on the front of the counter into the compass. Solve the math puzzle, entering the answer as "5250". Use the key on the locked cash register, and you will find another emerald petal. Now you can leave the restaurant Banshee O'Danann.

Porta dell'Esoterismo

Read the next Enigma section of the Gazette to get two more codes and enter one of them into the compass.

Profane Route

Read the riddle, then enter the answer as "Hypatia".

Insider Route

The clue provided is the Greek letter Phi, which in mathematics is approximately equal to 1.618, so enter the answer as "618".

Now talk to Occhi to reach your next destination. Talk to the apothecary, then collect 3 ingredients from the shop (Sugar of Licorice, Seed from Wild Naveau, Honey from Narbonne). Talk to the apothecary again, then go to the back room. Pick up another 4 ingredients (Arabic Costus, Nardus Indic, Frankincense, Judean Balm). Read the new entries in the Gazette. Examine the golem, then enter the symbols on its front into the compass. Solve 5 tracing puzzles, then click on the golem to insert the piece of paper into its mouth. Go out through the secret opening.

Take the ingredient (Florentine Iris) and take note of the symbol on the wall, then head to the right. Pick up another ingredient (Flower of Shaemanthe) and take note of 2 more symbols here. Now click on the picture of the warrior on the wall. Read the new entry in the Gazette, then examine the box on the wall - you don't know the answers to this puzzle yet. Enter the 3 symbols from the walls here into your compass, then look at the information displayed on the illuminated face. Examine the box on the wall again, and enter the order as:

  1. Kether
  2. Tiphereth
  3. Hod
  4. Malkuth

Go through the open gate to the right and pick up 2 ingredients (Red Roses, Agaric). Examine the stone rose on the well to see 2 sets of symbols. Enter one of these into the compass.

Profane Route

After inserting the central part of the stone rose, play a pattern repeating game - the longest sequence has 7 symbols to remember.

Insider Route

After inserting the central part of the stone rose, examine the illuminated face on the compass to see another clue. You need to research each of the 5 items and place them in the correct date order, then click the rose petals in order:

  1. Top left (The Chemical Wedding, 1616)
  2. Bottom right (Mutus Liber, 1677)
  3. Bottom (Bibliographia Kabbalistica by Gershom Scholem, 1927)
  4. Top right (Lectorium Rosicrucianum School, 1945)
  5. Bottom left (The Foucault Pendulum, 1988)

Take the next emerald petal Hipaza Theone.

Porta del Viaggio

Read some new entries in the Gazette, then look at the next Enigma section and enter one of the two codes into the compass.

Profane Route

As you scroll between the two pages of text, you can just make out the outline of a lion's head. Enter the answer as "Lion".

Insider Route

Reading the details of the travels, the countries indicated are supposed to be Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Chile. Using the codes from the second page, you can work out a series of letters. Enter the answer as "OPVCVYSC".

Examine the large lion statue to see 2 more codes, then enter one of them into your compass.

Profane Route

You will find a small stone disc, and get some instructions. Back on the surface of the lion, you need to find a 9-letter word, starting at the green O, and ending with the red A. Enter the answer as "Ornamenta", and you will receive another disc.

Insider Route

You will find a small stone disc, and get some instructions. Back on the surface of the lion, you need to find a 9-letter word, starting at the green O, and ending with the red A. The difference between this and the Profane Route is that the letters here are displayed in the runic alphabet. Enter the answer as "Ornamenta", and you will receive another disc.

Spin the disc around to complete a symbol, and the lion statue will open, revealing a mechanism inside. Climb in to reach a new destination. Take the ingredient hanging outside the beach hut (Myrrh), then go inside through the front door. Examine the mechanism, then enter one of the two codes into your compass, and you will receive a gear.

Profane Route

Solve the 3 riddles by spinning to the correct face and pressing the button on the right:

  1. Jean Mermoz
  2. Francisco Pizarro
  3. Vasco da Gama

Insider Route

Solve the 3 riddles by researching the details online, and then selecting the correct century, country of origin, and portrait for these famous explorers:

  1. Christopher Columbus (15th century, Italy)
  2. Vasco da Gama (15th century, Portugal)
  3. Louis Antoine de Bougainville (18th century, France)

Take the emerald petal, but it will be stolen from you. Now pick up the 3 ingredients (Safran, Fine Cinnamon, Castoreum), examine the mask on the wall, take the key from the left, and look through the telescope. Head out through the front door and use the big lion statue; you will travel back in time. This time, head inside through the front door, and the monk inside will not wake up. Examine the mechanism and enter one of the codes in the compass again, so that you get the gear again.

Profane Route

Solve the 3 riddles by spinning to the correct face and pressing the button on the right:

  1. Jean Mermoz
  2. Francisco Pizarro
  3. Vasco da Gama

Insider Route

Solve the 3 riddles by researching the details online, and then selecting the correct century, country of origin, and portrait for these famous explorers:

  1. Ferdinand Magellan (15th century, Portugal)
  2. Fernao Mendes Pinto (16th century, Portugal)
  3. Jean Mermoz (20th century, France)

Take the emerald again, then leave through the front door and use the lion once more. Click on Gozzi, and Rasputin will save you, then get you back to the boat Pandora Groovesnore.

Porta del Doppio

Read the new Gazette entries, then enter one of the new Enigma codes into the compass.

Profane Route

You need to find the key that matches one display in a mirror, and enter its number as the solution. Enter the answer as "3H9".

Insider Route

You need to find the pieces of a key that can be slotted together to make a whole key. Search online for the phrase made by these key pieces "Sigillum dei" to find the solution. Enter the answer as "Aemeth".

Examine the box on the chair to find that it is locked. Knock on the door, then read the new Gazette entry. Climb the stairs, then after meeting Venexiana's granddaughter, examine the picture above the fireplace, and take the rifle. Search the body to get the emerald petal and a small key. Examine the window on the right to get the final ingredient (Troschiques aspidum). Go back downstairs and open the box on the chair.

Examine the new page in your Gazette, then enter one of the new Enigma codes into the compass.

Profane Route

Examine the picture and you are asked to spot the anachronism. Enter the answer as "Submarine".

Insider Route

Search Google Maps to display Castello. Display the exact coordinates of the position marked on the first map to discover the missing 4 digits. Enter the answer as "5814".

Occhi will now enter and take you back to the boat Venexiana Stevenson.

Porta della Guerra

Click on the well, then examine it again. Enter one of the 2 codes here into the compass.

Profane Route

You will get a recipe and some instructions on how to create it. The ingredients on the bench will be identified for you by clicking on them. Follow these steps:

  1. Add 25g of Cinnamon
  2. Remove 10g from the mixture
  3. Add 35g of Opium
  4. Add 30g of Vipers
  5. Turn the water crank on the right
  6. Pour water from the well

Insider Route

You will get a complex recipe and some instructions on how to create it. The ingredients on the bench will not be identified for you, but from left to right they are: Licorice, Human ash, Vipers, Iris flowers, Honey, Wine, Long peppers, Cinnamon, Opium, Naveau, Safran, Agaric, Roses and Arabic Costus. Follow these steps:

  1. Add 25g of Licorice (1st from left)
  2. Remove 10g from the mixture
  3. Add 10g of Long peppers (7th from left)
  4. Add 50g of Roses (13th from left)
  5. Add 20g of Iris flowers (4th from left)
  6. Add 10g of Naveau (10th from left)
  7. Add 25g of Cinnamon (8th from left)
  8. Add 50g of Agaric (12th from left)
  9. Add 10g of Safran (11th from left)
  10. Add 25g of Honey (5th from left)
  11. Add 25g of Wine (6th from left)
  12. Add 30g of Human ash (2nd from left)
  13. Add 30g of Vipers (3rd from left)
  14. Add 35g of Opium (9th from left)
  15. Add 20g of Arabic Costus (14th from left)
  16. Turn the water crank on the right
  17. Pour water from the well

Read the articles in the Gazette, then drink the Theriac, which is on top of the well. Examine the star on the wall, and enter one of the codes into the compass.

Profane Route

Solve 4 tracing puzzles on the illuminated face of the compass.

Insider Route

Solve 5 tracing puzzles on the illuminated face of the compass, then solve 5 puzzles connecting colored dots.

Take the final emerald petal and the letter. After Rasputin shoots Gozzi, give him the petals. Examine the star again and enter the code from the letter into the compass. Now you need to solve a series of puzzles on the compass. The first involves finding a hidden word within some apparent Arabic text. Enter the solution as "cagalibri". The second puzzle involves finding a hidden 5 digit number within a picture. Enter the solution as "89472". The third puzzle involves triangulating a city name by finding pairs of objects that go together; the objects are fish with hook, corn with windmill, and horse with horseshoe. Enter the solution as "Spira". The final puzzle just involves looking up letters in a grid. Enter the solution as "Venezia" Golden Mouth.

Porta dell'Altro

Read the new Gazette entries, then go through the door on the left.