Strolling around our city...
If you would like to
discover our Venice away from the most touristic and crowded areas, we can suggest you to take
a walk in those districts that are still quite populated by Venetians, where it is still possible to get in touch with everyday life. In such places you can really feel the art and the history of Venice, as well as its unique ancient traditions and legends.
The Jewish Ghetto
The Jewish Ghetto in Venice is the
most ancient in the world. It is really interesting to stroll around this peculiar area, where still nowadays the Jewish community is pretty active: here you can find
five synagogues, several artisanal and
art workshops, bakeries with typical Jewish treats, and the unusual “
Venetian skyscrapers”… it is a curious way to name the houses of the ghetto…
Campo of Ghetto Novo
The “Bacari”
The district of Cannaregio hosts quite a few bacari,
sort of taverns where you can taste the typical
Venetian cicchetti (similar to the Spanish tapas), along with a
glass of wine or the cocktail that is so common in Venice,
the famous Spritz!This is the perfect place where to have
lunch or dinner, or just to hang around and taste some appetizers: all the food is prepared according to original Venetian recipes, you won’t regret it!
A bacaro early in the morning, Fondamenta Ormesini
The Campo dei Mori
Walking along the alleys of this district you will definitely end up to this particular campo, which owes its name to the
statues of the Moors inserted in the walls of a house: they supposedly represent three brothers who left the Peloponnese (which the Venetians used to call Morea) and moved to Venice, the most important market in between the West and the Middle and Far East in the past centuries. One of the brothers,
Mister Rioba, has quite a
nose… did cosmetic surgery already exist in those days?
They used to live in a nice palazzo with a sculpted
camel on its façade: this bas-relief has something to do with a
love story…
Mr. Rioba and his nose
Tintoretto and the Madonna dell’Orto Church
The great painter of the High Renaissance in Venice used to live right here. On his house we can today admire his sculpted portrait.
Tintoretto is buried in the
Madonna dell’Orto Church, for which he painted several
great masterpieces, such as the marvelous “
Presentation of the Virgin Mary to the Temple”.
The church itself is an architectural jewel; it is considered the
third most beautiful church in Venice, after St. Mark’s Basilica and and the Frari Church. It is a superb example of
Gothic style, the brick façade is finely decorated with elegant elements of limestone and marble, in particular around the ogee windows and the main portal. Interestingly enough, on top of the central arch we can see St. Christopher…
Madonna dell'Orto church
The Scuola Grande della Misericordia and the Chiodo Bridge
We can continue our walk up to a really large brick building, the
Scuola Grande della Misericordia, projected by the Tuscan architect Jacopo Sansovino and eventually left unfinished.
We must admit, though, that all
our guests are more impressed by something else, just two steps away: we are talking about
Ponte Chiodo, the only bridge without parapets still present in Venice; in the past, instead, most of the bridges had
no parapets!
Chiodo bridge
These are only a few hints about what you can see during
a walking tour with us in the Cannaregio District! We will be waiting for you, with all our enthusiasm, to let you discover this unusual part of Venice. Ciao!
Our contacts:
info@guidedtoursinvenice.com You might also be interested di the following itineraries, posts and videos:First time in Venice. (section:
Classical tours)
A walk through the Cannaregio district. (section:
Unusual tours)Photographic tours in Venice. (section:
Specific tours)
Arts and crafts in Venice. (section:
Specific tours)
Treasure hunt with Marco Polo and the merchants. (section:
Kids tours)
Curious sculptures in Venice. (section:
Blog)
Discovering two paintings by Tintoretto in the Madonna dell'Orto church. (section:
Blog)Our guided and private tours of Venice. (section:
Blog)
Unusual Venice: let's visit Pinocchio's island. (section:
Blog)
Live and interactive virtual tours of Venice: the Cannaregio district. (section:
YouTube)
