DK Travel : Venice : History & Culture

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Pietro Longhi

Longhi’s (1702–85) witty scenes of the well-to-do in Venice can be admired at Ca’ Rezzonico (see Ca’ Rezzonico).
Rialto Market

(see Rialto Market).
Rio Terrà dei Catecumeni

This reclaimed thoroughfare between the Zattere and Santa Maria della Salute is dominated by a long building, now a school, where prisoners-of-war of the Republic who did not profess the Christian faith would be held captive until they converted. This quiet backwater comes alive on 21 November when the Salute festivities are in full swing (see Madonna della Salute).
Riva degli Schiavoni

Thronging with tour groups and packed with souvenir stalls, this quayside affords a lovely promenade past majestic palaces (now mostly hotels) and a much photographed 1887 monument to the first king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele. It is linked to Piazza San Marco by the elegant Istrian stone bridge Ponte della Paglia, named after the straw (paglia ) once unloaded from barges here. This is also the best place for taking pictures of the Bridge of Sighs. At the eastern end is the Ca’ di Dio (“house of God”), a 13th-century hospice for pilgrims en route to the Holy Land.
Ruskin’s Venice, editor Arnold Whittick

A very readable version of Ruskin’s landmark work.
San Basilio Port Zone

The vast docks occupy a good part of the northwestern continuation of the Zattere waterfront, and are usually crowded with trucks and cars queueing up to board the ferries to Greece. The modern terminal also handles the increasing cruise liner traffic, whereas the former industrial structures such as the cotton mill and cold stores are being converted for use by Venice University (see Historic Conversions). The outstanding 17th-century pastel portrait artist Rosalba Carriera (see Portraits by Rosalba Carriera) was born in the San Basilio parish and returned there to die, destitute and totally blind, in 1757.
San Nicolò dei Mendicoli

This Veneto-Byzantine church with an imposing square campanile (bell tower) will be recognized by film buffs from the chilling Nicholas Roeg film Don’t Look Now . Hidden away in a maze of narrow alleyways off the port zone, “St Nicholas of the beggars” has a pretty portico which doubled as a shelter for the poor. Founded in the 7th century, it is the second oldest church in Venice. In the 1970s it was restored by the Venice in Peril Fund, who waterproofed the low floor.
San Pietro di Castello

A sleepy island of grassy squares and boatyards, it is hard to imagine that Venice’s religious headquarters were centred here right up until 1807, when the Basilica San Marco became the city’s cathedral. Linked to the rest of Castello by two broad bridges, San Pietro attracts artists for its evocative forlorn air and fun-lovers for the animated late-June neighbourhood fair. Art lovers also come for the church with work by Veronese and Coducci, flanked by the patriarchal palace-cum-army barracks.
Santa Maria dei Miracoli

A “jewellery box” of marble slabs and exquisite basreliefs, this Renaissance church was named after a miracle-working icon from 1409, said to have resuscitated a drowned man and now enshrined in the main altar (see Santa Maria dei Miracoli).
Santa Maria della Pietà

Inextricably linked with the composer and musician Antonio Vivaldi, this Classical-fronted church belonged to the adjoining home for foundlings where he taught. Come to an evening concert to appreciate Tiepolo’s uplifting ceiling fresco exalting music and the young orphan choristers, identifiable by their sprigs of pomegranate blossom. The interior has choir stalls to accommodate both the singers and nobility who were not expected to mingle with the commoners.