Cannaregio, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Cannaregio is one of the six sestieri (districts) of Venice. Cannaregio is a great place to explore if you want to appreciate the true local life of the city. The neighbourhood is known for its youthful vibe and numerous bacaros, it’s a great place to sample local life.

The Cannaregio district is the largest in the city after Castello and the most populated and occupies almost the entire part of the city north of the Grand Canal, extending from the railway station, north of the Santa Croce district to which it is connected via the Scalzi bridge and the Constitution bridge, up to Castello, with which it borders almost entirely to the east and south, with the exception of the parish of San Canciano which borders Campo San Bartolomeo, in the San Marco district.

Cannaregio has some of the most peaceful and most attractive areas of the city. One of the main attractions is the Jewish Ghetto area with its poignant history and several synagogues. Cannaregio is known for the 16th-century Jewish Ghetto. Visit the Jewish Ghetto, synagogues and the Museo Ebraico di Venezia (Jewish Museum), try the traditional Jewish treats.

There are a number of lovely churches, include the Church of Madonna dell’Orto, a beautiful church dedicated to Saint Christopher. Hidden inside are beautiful pieces by local artists Bellini and Tintoretto. Some of Tintoretto’sworks was inside, marble-clad Santa Maria dei Miracoli with its intricate interiors, and Santa Maria Assunta with its green-and-white marble-clad interior.

The Strada Nova is a popular local shopping thoroughfare, and the backstreets are a destination for crafts and vintage goods. Casual canalside restaurants and bars line nearby Fondamenta della Misericordia and Fondamenta dei Ormesini. The stately Ca’ d’Oro palace displays a Renaissance art collection.

Nowadays sestiere Cannaregio fully represent a place of entertainment in Venice The most important shopping‘s streets are Strada Nova and Lista di Spagna, that are also frequented by young people because of the presence of bar and other meeting points. A not to be missed area is the one of bar and restaurants in Cannaregio that is in the northern part of the district.

History
The Cannaregio Canal, which was the main route into the city until the construction of a railway link to the mainland, gave the district its name (Canal Regio is Italian for Royal Canal). Development began in the eleventh century as the area was drained and parallel canals were dredged. Although elegant palazzos were built facing the Grand Canal, the area grew primarily with working class housing and manufacturing.

Beginning in 1516, Jews were restricted to living in the Venetian Ghetto. The numerous Jews (up to 4,000 people), money lenders and skilled merchants had to reside. From the Venetian name “Ghetto” comes the toponym with which the places of forced residence of Jews all over the world will be indicated. It was enclosed by guarded gates and no one was allowed to leave from sunset to dawn. However, Jews held successful positions in the city such as merchants, physicians, money lenders, and other trades. Restrictions on daily Jewish life continued for more than 270 years, until Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the Venetian Republic in 1797. He removed the gates and gave all residents the freedom to live where they chose.

In the 19th century, civil engineers built a street named Strada Nuova through Cannaregio, and a railway bridge and road bridge were constructed to connect Venice directly to Mestre. As a result of this, in 1858 the third bridge over the Grand Canal was erected, the Ponte degli Scalzi. The areas located externally towards the lagoon (Baia del Re, Chiovere, San Girolamo) until the seventiesthey were considered infamous due to the high percentage of resident offenders. A series of redevelopment interventions, including the construction of new residential complexes on disused industrial areas, have allowed the full recovery of the area.

Today, the areas of the district along the Grand Canal from the train station to the Rialto Bridge are packed with tourists, but the rest of Cannaregio is residential and relatively peaceful, with morning markets, neighborhood shops, and small cafés. The fondamenta and the campielli of Cannaregio are much less crowded and this allows a more peaceful visit to the numerous works of art distributed in the Sestiere.

Main Attractions

Palaces and civil buildings

Bonfadini Vivante Palace
Palazzo Bonfadini Vivante is a palace in Venice. The palace was built in the 16th century, the façade still visible today was completed in the mid- 17th century. In the first half of the twentieth century, the building underwent a long decay, from which it was redeemed with an important restoration work, carried out by the new owners in the nineties.

The façade of the palazzo is rather simple, of three levels and an attic on top. The structure has two rectangular portals on the ground floor flanked by square windows. The second noble floor is decorated with the most important element, a serliana with a metal parapet. The first noble floor below has a similar layout with smaller quadrangular openings, also with parapet. Finally, the façade terminates with a thin dentilled cornice and stringcourse. The interiors have greater artistic value, in which grandiose paintings are hidden, created between the 18th and 19th centuries: a series of stuccos by Giuseppe Castelli accompanies a cycle of neoclassical frescoes, among whose authors are mentioned Giuseppe Borsato and Giambattista Canal.

Correr Contarini Zorzi Palace
Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi is a Renaissance palace in Venice, Italy. Built in 1678 on the place where there was an ancient Gothic palace, of which only the corner columns survive, the building was recently renovated. The palace offers an impressive 17th-century façade with two imposing monumental water portals, decorated by bow-shaped heads. The portals have main openings surrounded by quadrangular windows; their position symmetrical to that of the windows of the upper floors. There are two noble floors of equal importance and of the same design. The floors are decorated with triforas with small balconies shifted to the left and flanked by pairs of single-light windows on the left and (double) on the right. The horizontal bands of Istrian stone underline the symmetry and harmony of all the elements. The facade terminates with a white balustrade, which delimits an extensive roof terrace and is supported by a dentiled cornice. There are neoclassical frescoes inside the palazzo.

Giustinian Pesaro Palace
Palazzo Giustinian Pesaro is a Gothic palace located in Venice.The palace dates back to the late 14th century; it was renovated later during the 18th and 19th centuries. The small palace has an atypical L-shaped plan and a garden towards the Grand Canal. The perfectly restored Gothic façade presents the results of numerous modifications that have affected it over the past centuries. The palazzo has two noble floors decorated by quadriforas shifted the right, so the façade looks asymmetrical. Each quadrifora is supported by a pair of single-light windows from the left side. All the ogival openings are surrounded by serrated frames and decorated by the typical flower on top. The facade overlooking the large garden was rearranged during the eighteenth century, while the entire complex was raised in the nineteenth century. The building was converted from a residence to a hotel business in 2006.

Falier Palace
Palazzo Falier is a civil building located in Venice. The palazzo is particularly known for having been the home of Marin Falier, Doge of the Republic of Venice. The palace is one of the oldest existing buildings in Venice. Erected in a primitive form during the 11th century, the palace was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1105. Later, the structure was a subject of numerous alterations, which partially changed its structure. Currently, the first floor is home to a hotel business.

It stands on a characteristic portico with six arches, parallel to Rio dei Santi Apostoli, and overlooks the adjacent Campo with extraordinary monumentality. The façade, exemplification of the Byzantine influence in Venice, has very ancient elements, among which the two multi – lancet windows with a raised pedestrian stand, stacked imprecisely. Also noteworthy are the decorations dating back to the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries: two panels, two paterae and two Gothic shields. The monochrome of the facade is broken up by single-light windows, positioned in pairs next to the multi-light windows.

Labia Palace
Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Built in the 17th–18th century, it is one of the last great palazzi of Venice. The palazzo was designed by the architect Andrea Cominelli (by Alessandro Tremignon according to others), the principal facade is on the Cannaregio Canal; a lesser three bayed facade faces the Grand Canal. A later facade probably designed by Giorgio Massari is approached from the Campo San Geremia. It is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted 1746–47 by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, with decorative works in trompe-l’œil by Gerolamo Mengozzi-Colonna.

In the hall Giambattista Tiepolo painted the magnificent cycle of frescoes dedicated to the Stories of Antonio and Cleopatra, in the walls between allegorical and mythological figures there are the two main scenes the Encounter between Anthony and Cleopatra and Banquet of Antonio and Cleopatra; in the Hall of Mirrors on the ceiling he creates the Triumph of Zephyr and Flora. Many other rooms of the palace are decorated with interesting paintings: there are works by Giandomenico Tiepolo, Palma il Giovane, Giambattista Canal, Placido Costanzi, Agostino Masucci, Pompeo Batoni, Gregorio Lazzarini, Gaspare Diziani, Antonio Visentini. Also noteworthy is a cycle of Flemish tapestries with Stories of Scipio. This artistic wealth had one of the main inspirations in Maria Labia; it is said to have been portrayed in Cleopatra in Tiepolo ‘s Encounter.

Mastelli del Cammello Palace
Palazzo Mastelli del Cammello is a Gothic palace in Venice. The building formerly belonged to three silk and spices merchant brothers, the initial construction of the palace dates back to the 12th century. The palazzo facade has three levels and is covered with gray stucco. The gound floor has a water portal flanked by lancet and arched windows. At the bottom right, there is a small fountain made in Arabian style, that, until a few years ago, was used to drink water while staying on the boat or gondola. The first noble floor has a trifora flanked by pairs of side windows. On its right side, the level is decorated with a bas-relef representing a turbaned man pulling a laden camel. It is this sculpture that gives its name del cammello to the palace.

The level also has two paterae, one of them depicting a peacock. The left side window has a bit of Roman altar serving as a thick corner column. The second noble floor has a Gothic hexafora supported by a balcony on corbels and flanked by single-light side openings, also with balconies. The left balcony goes around the corner of the building. Quatrefoils, two of them irregular, decorate the top part of the hexafora. The cornice is supported by small dentils decorated with animal heads. In the middle part of the roof there is a large dormer window. The windows, door frames, balconies, corbels, balusters, cornice, quatrefoils, and the relief of the camel are made of Istrian stone.

Memmo Martinengo Mandelli Palace
Palazzo Memmo Martinengo Mandelli is a palace in Venice. The structure was built during the 18th century and substantially renovated during the 19th century. The palazzo has housed several public offices. The asymmetrical neoclassical façade appears to split into levels thanks to the use of frames and bands of Istrian stone that connect windowsills, windows, and lintels. Wider windows are set in the left side of the facade. The ground floor is covered with ashlar. The palace extends in depth and has both a central courtyard and a garden. After several structures neighboring the palace on the right had been demolished, the right wing was rebuilt to add a garden.

Other well-known palaces include:
Palazzo Michiel del Brusà;
Palazzo Nani;
Palazzo Savorgnan;
Palazzo Surian Bellotto;
Palazzo Smith Mangilli Valmarana;
Palazzo Testa.

Religious architecture

Church of Sant’Alvise
The church of Sant’Alvise is a religious building in the city of Venice, the church dedicated to San Ludovico da Tolosa. It underwent a major renovation in the 17th century, which largely changed its interior. Built in simple Gothic modules, with a basilica plan. The façade is very simple, there are six slightly protruding pilasters, connected by ogival arches that follow the entire crowning. The Istrian stone portal is enriched by a statue of the saint in Greek marble, attributed to Bartolomeo Bon. The bell tower has kept its original 14th century Gothic appearance. It has terracotta with a cusp in pine cone and with spiers at the corners. The convent of the nuns on the right side was originally formed by two cloisters, of which now only one remains intact, and by a portico with Gothic style columns and round arches. In modern times the convent has been occupied by the Daughters of Charity.

Statues, altars and seventeenth-century marbles decorate the walls. Noteworthy is the large flat ceiling fresco made by Piero Antonio Torri and Pietro Ricchi in the years following 1674. To make this church even more beautiful the presence of the barco, the typical hanging choir, supported by two filiform columns and Gothic barbican. Another very beautiful aspect are the wrought iron grates behind which the nuns were hidden. Below, to the left of the boat, there are eight tablets depicting biblical episodes, attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani. The most prestigious works of the church are three paintings by Giambattista Tiepolo executed between 1737 and 1740: Crowning with thorns and Flagellation on the right aisle and Ascent on Mount Calvary on a wall of the presbytery. The painting by Angelo Trevisani Oration of Christ placed in front of this last painting. On the eighteenth-century altar in polychrome marble on the left wall there are three statues attributed to Giovanni Maria Morlaiter.

Church of the Madonna dell’Orto
The church of the Madonna dell’Orto is a religious building in Venice, one of the emblematic places of Venetian Gothic architecture. The complex is defined on the sides by two columns leaning against the wall with Corinthian capitals. The capitals and shelves corresponding to the herringbone motif support a molded frame / architrave with plant motifs. The courses of niches with the statues of the apostles framing the wings. The large rose window was designed by Bartolomeo Bon as well as the portal. The portal, developed around a squared opening, presents a crescendo of refined moldings: the internal edge is edged with a twisted motif while at the edge of the jamb there is a herringbone motif enriched by repeated symbols of St. Christopher; the whole is enclosed in a first mixtilinear white and pink frame with a serrated border. The decoration is completed by the three top statues. The symbols of St. Christopher mentioned,, they were integrated with the eighteenth-century statues representing Prudence, Charity, Faith, Hope, and Temperance, taken from the demolished church of Santo Stefano in Murano.

The interior has a basilica plan, with three naves, with pointed double-frame arches. What makes this church famous all over the world are the ten canvases by Jacopo Tintoretto. On the left side, the only surviving element of the convent, four funeral chapels of some important families have been opened. Starting from the entrance, one encounters the Valier chapel, of refined Renaissance architecture. Followed by the Vendramin chapel and the Morosini chapel, in Gothic style by the architects Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon. The sequence ends with the elegant Contarini chapel. On the right side of the church are the side altars and an important funerary monument. The ceiling is wooden coffered, the work of the restoration in 1931, but inspired by that of the nearby cloister in the typical style of the Gothic construction of the time.

Scalzi Church
The church of Santa Maria di Nazareth, or church of the Scalzi, is a religious building in the city of Venice from the early 18th century. It was built by Baldassarre Longhena in a single nave, with two side chapels, each in turn flanked by two smaller chapels. After the triumphal arch, the hall enters the presbytery, raised and equipped with a dome. In the apse, you can see the choir of the friars. A major restoration between 1853 and 1862 by the Austrian government. Today it is a national monument. Inside, colored and opulent Corinthian marbles give a feeling of opulence and wonder to the visitor.

The facade with the style of late Venetian Baroque, divided into two orders and punctuated by coupled columns. The four statues of the first order, the Madonna and Child placed on the pediment, and Santa Caterina da Siena in the niche to the left of the Madonna are by Bernardo Falconi. The niche on the right was occupied by a statue of St. Thomas Aquinas by Falconi himself. The work Transport of the Loreto house, a fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo from 1743, was destroyed during an Austrian bombing on 24 October 1915. It was in an attempt to repair this damage that, in the period 1929-1933, Ettore Tito painted two works for the church: a canvas of 100 square meters, and a fresco of 400 square meters. The remains of the Transport of the Loreto house and other surviving fragments of the ceiling are now preserved in the Accademia Galleries, where one of the two sketches (oil on canvas) painted by Tiepolo as preparatory models for the great lost fresco is also kept. There is also a photograph of the ceiling by James Anderson and a copy by Mariano Fortuny at the Correr museum.

Church of Miracles
The church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a church site in Venice, it is one of the very first Renaissance- style buildings built in Venice. During the sixteenth century, interventions were carried out on the interiors. In 1997 it underwent a careful restoration, which allowed Venetians and tourists to fully enjoy its artistic beauties. The Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is almost hidden between two ancient buildings. The facade of the church is completely covered with marble, which, according to tradition, comes from the remains of the works of the Basilica of San Marco. The interior of the church is decorated in shades of pale pink, silver, gray and white and there is still the original bas relief working with mermaids, god Triton, animals, flowers and other images. The “Virgin lives for the saints” is above the church altar. The church has a rectangular structure. The facade overlooks the Campo dei Miracoli.

The lower space still dominated by the “barco”, the singular decoration of the nearby square column that supports the boat, carved by a hand apparently unrelated to the workshop of Pietro Lombardo. The ceiling inserted between the beams dates back to the end of the sixteenth century; Vincenzo Dai Destri from Treviso participated in these works. The canvases in the compartments are paintings from a later period. The interior has a single nave with a barrel vault decorated with gilded coffers, inside the fifty panels there are small panel paintings depicting prophets and patriarchs. The presbytery begins with a steep staircase leading to the mezzanine floor, elegantly decorated with four statues. The large cross of porphyry discs on the back wall draws the gaze upwards, where the stained glass window in the tambour meet. In the stained glass window there is an image of Pietatis, the Christ in the sepulcher.

Church of the Santi Apostoli
The Church of the Holy Apostles of Christ is a religious building in the city of Venice, was built by San Magno, bishop of Oderzo. Jesuit church whose facade is a perfect example of the early 18th century Baroque style. The current building is the result of lots for renovations carried out during the 18th century. Legend has it that the Church was one of the first places in Venice where refugees from the mainland came to live.

The interior consists of a double-tiered nave of pillars, there is a Latin cross shape and the internal columns are surmounted by statues. Immediately on the right the altar with the altarpiece Christ among the Apostles by Sebastiano Santi, circa 1828, follows the fifteenth-century Corner chapel, with very precious marbles and decorations. The altar with the Communion of Saint Lucia by Giambattista Tiepolo, circa 1748, is beautiful. The second altar on the right side houses the altarpiece The Birth of the Virgin, from 1599, by Giovanni Contarini. The main altar with the tabernacle in the shape of a circular temple was designed by Francesco Lazzari. In the two side chapels, the fourteenth-century frescoes have been saved. On the left side altarpieces by Gaspare Diziani and Domenico Maggiotto. The bell tower dates back to 1672 but was finished by Andrea Tirali in the 18th century.

Church of San Marcuola
The church of San Marcuola or church Ermagora saints and Fortunato is a religious building in Venice, it was built for the first time on the island called Lemeneo even between the ninth century and the tenth century, and that it was then destroyed by a fire following an earthquake. It was then in the twelfth century that the current church was re-built, Giorgio Massari managed to finish the internal part as early as 1736, but not the facade of the church, which still remains unfinished.

The first structure was part of the canons of the Romanesque style and had three naves with roof to roof trusses discoveries. The bell tower was built next to the apse. The church now has a single square nave covered by a barrel vault. An octagonal spire was also added during the renovation of the church. The presbytery was obtained from a semicircular apse, which is the conclusion of the beautiful rectangular main chapel, surmounted by an oval dome, supported by four columns. The church offers a large collection of statues by the sculptor Gaetano Susali.

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Church of San Giobbe
The church of San Giobbe is a Catholic place of worship in Venice. The church is what remains of the Franciscan convent of San Giobbe and San Bernardino da Siena. A large part of the convent was demolished in 1812. In 1815 the garden was entrusted to the Bavarian gardener Giuseppe Ruchinger. Throughout the twentieth century the complex remained, with modifications and adaptations, operational with production activities (a thermoelectric plant) and distribution of electricity (from the Malnisio Montereale Valcellina power plant) and from the specialized technical units of the Sade group (as the written in marble above the entrance obtained from the walls present in the small square facing the church) and by Enel with its Measurement and Testing Service. The bell tower was finished in 1464 with an open belfry with elegant Gothic mullioned windows in Istrian stone.

The great sculptor Pietro Lombardo was called to embellish the interior. Inside a single nave there is an asymmetry: the left wall is full of chapels while the right part is linear with four altars. This is because on the right side the church rested on the pre-existing convent. The presbytery is preceded by a triumphal arch, surrounded by the statues of the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin of the Annunciation. It is perfectly square in shape and on the sides there are four columns. The whole is dominated by a semi-dome with the statues of the four evangelists, attributed to Pietro Lombardo. In the sacristy there is the oil on panel painting by Andrea Previtali Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria executed in 1504.

Church of the Maddalena
The church of Santa Maria Maddalena is a religious building in the city of Venice, one of the best known examples of neoclassical architecture Venetian. Originated from a religious building erected in 1222, starting from 1763 the church was completely rebuilt, with a circular plan, based on a design by Tommaso Temanza, who shifted its orientation towards the campo. The church has a rather unusual circular plan for Venice (the only other example is that of San Simeon Piccolo), with a hemispherical domed roof, clearly inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome and in particular the Pantheon, of which it recalls the steps outside. The reference also goes to Venetian buildings such as the Salute and San Simeon Piccolo, the latter work of Giovanni Scalfarotto, teacher and uncle of Tommaso Temanza.

There was a great portal architectural value, preceded by a short staircase and formed by a high gable triangular supported by two pairs of columns with capitals and entablature ionic. Above the entrance door there is a lunette with an all-seeing eye within a triangle intertwined with a circle in bas-relief. Inside, the circular plan is transformed into hexagonal with the insertion of four side chapels (the other two sides are formed by the main chapel and the main entrance), framed by round arches. Last Supper by Giandomenico Tiepolo and the Apparition of the Virgin to San Simone Stock by Giuseppe Angeli as well as other 18th century paintings, by the school of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta.

Jesuit Church
The church of Santa Maria Assunt is a religious building in Venic. The façade designed by Rossi is a free interpretation of the Venetian Baroque culture of the early eighteenth century. It is divided into two orders. The movement of the façade is multiplied by the beams of semi-pillars, slightly hollowed, which welcome each column and by the breaking of the high architrave. The upper order, of four simple pillars without capital, is narrowed to the width of the nave by large scrolls and opened in the center by a large window. Crowning is the tympanum slightly out of phase on two vertical planes and surmounted by the dynamic marble group of the Assumption of Mary and angels by Giuseppe Torretto to which adoring angels and cherubs make a spectacular wing. The cornice of the first order supports eight statues on mirrored pedestals corresponding to the columns, which together with the four in the underlying niches, represent the Twelve Apostles. The door, one of the very few surviving originals, a refined structure in embossed and chiseled bronze sheet.

The floor plan is typical of Jesuit churches, with a Latin cross, with three chapels on each side in the longer arm. The flat-bottomed transept and presbytery are flanked by two other chapels. The six chapels on the sides of the nave are separated from each other in small rooms, once dedicated to confessions. The ceilings are decorated with frescoes by Ludovico Dorigny, Musician Angels in Glory. The presbytery is surrounded by statues of cherubs, little angels, angels and archangels ofGiuseppe Torretti. By Jacopo Antonio Pozzo, also known as Giuseppe Pozzo, is the altar, which consists of ten columns surmounted by a white and green dome.

Church of San Giovanni Grisostomo
St. John Chrysostom is a church in Venice, this small church was built in the 11th century in an area of Venice that was already very rich then, as it is now. The facade looks towards the main street while the two walls overlook as many squares. Its plan is a Greek cross, regular, with two naves that intersect perfectly and with the classic four pillars that support the arches on which the hemispherical dome rests. On the flat ceiling there are nine compartments of various sizes in which there is the Holy Father between putti and Cherubini by Giuseppe Diamantini.

The most important work is undoubtedly the altarpiece of the ‘ altar of Giovanni Bellini, the 1513, with Saints Christopher, Jerome and Louis of Toulouse, commissioned by George Beloved July 13 the 1494 in his testament. Also important is a canvas by Sebastiano del Piombo, commissioned, as a testament, by Caterina Contarini and Nicolò Morosini, and shows a very humble and human San Giovanni Crisostomo. On the walls you can admire the translation of of San Giovanni Grisostomo by Zaccaria Facchinetti, 1610. Finally, the marble altarpiece by Tullio Lombardo Coronation of the Virgin among the Apostles, commissioned by the Bernabò de Catenariis family from Montepulciano.

Sanctuary of Lucia
The sanctuary of Lucia is an important building of worship, which houses numerous works of art. The church was built in the 11th century, only to be rebuilt several times. The current building was designed by Carlo Corbellini in 1753. The first mass in the rebuilt church was celebrated on April 27, 1760. The facades on the campo and on the Cannaregio Canal, on the other hand, are from 1861, the year in which the works were finished. In 2018 the church was elevated to a sanctuary. In the church of San Geremia are preserved the mortal remains of one of the best known and venerated saints of Christianity, Saint Lucia, a Syracusan virgin and martyr.

Inside the church, very beautiful and precious is the altar, with its presbytery, in which you can admire the statues of St. Peter the apostle and St. Jeremiah the prophet, dated 1798, by Giovanni Ferrari. In the background the monochrome fresco work by Agostino Mengozzi Colonna Two Angels in Act of Supporting the Globe. The valuable work that appears on the fourth altar, The virgin attends the coronation of Venice by the bishop S. Magno of Palma il Giovane. Notable sculptural works are the Madonna del Rosario by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter and The Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Marchiori. In the church there is a miraculous acheropite sculpture of Christ dating back to the early seventeenth century.

Synagogues

Great German School Synagogue
The Scuola Grande Tedesca, or Scola Grande Tedesca, is the oldest place of Jewish worship in Venice. This and the other synagogues characterize the Venetian ghetto but their presence is discreet because they are hardly recognizable from the outside, blending in with the other buildings. Only by entering do they show the richness of what they keep. The large internal room is asymmetrical and has an elliptical shape. The walls are covered in wood, and the benches are also wooden. On the walls there are various sacred inscriptions and in particular the ten commandments, which are found on the access to the Ark. The pulpit is located in the hall.

The synagogue was the first in Venice, founded between 1528 and 1529, and over the centuries it underwent significant structural changes, particularly in the 18th century. It was then completely renovated in late Baroque style in the 1700s. The school has a trapezoidal shape which makes it unique compared to other rectangular synagogues. The bimah and the Aron Ha-Kodesh are in opposite positions; the bimah was originally placed in the center of the room, but was moved at the beginning of the 19th century to avoid static problems; moving the bimah involved closing two of the 5 windows from the inside, all of which are still visible from the outside. The elliptical women’s gallery fits perfectly into the irregular plan of the synagogue.

Canton School Synagogue
The Canton School is an ancient Jewish place of worship in Venice. The synagogue was the second in Venice, and was founded between 1531 and 1532. Built a few years after the Great German School, it initially imitated the structure then the hall was modified to take on the more traditional forms, with a rectangular, Bimah andAron haQodesh arranged specularly on the smaller walls and the benches arranged along the larger walls. The women’s gallery is located on the upper floor and was completed in 1736. From the outside it is recognizable by the wooden dome of the bimah and, from the side of the canal, by an inscription in Hebrew. This was the first school in Venice to have Aron Ha-Kodesh and bimah in opposite positions. Counters for the faithful are positioned along the long sides of the room.

Over the centuries it underwent significant structural changes, particularly in the Baroque period, during which it assumed a recent appearance. The hall of the synagogue is extremely refined and preserves eight precious eight wooden panels that represent as many significant biblical moments such as the passage of the Red Sea, the Altar of Sacrifices, the Manna and others. The women’s gallery is located above the entrance along one side of the synagogue only. The Baroque style, with aspects of Rococo, as well as probably the location of the women’s gallery, derives from eighteenth-century restoration work.

Italian school Synagogue
The Scola Italiana is an ancient place of Jewish worship in Venice. The synagogue was the third in Venice and was founded in 1575 by the Jewish community of Italian origin. It was the subject of restoration works between the 18th and 19th centuries. The synagogue has a structure that makes it the simplest of those in Venice. It is very bright because the room receives light from five large windows overlooking the Campo del Ghetto Novo.

The plan of the school is rectangular, almost quadrangular, with a bifocal system (Aron and Bimah are in opposite positions). The latter is in a much higher position than the rest of the room. The counters are set against the wall. The women’s gallery is positioned above the entrance on one of the two long sides and dates back to the 1700s as well as the entire decorative system of the synagogue. The Italian school was very important because it hosted the sermons of the famous Rabbi Leone Modena.

Scola Levantina Synagogue
The Scola Levantina represents an ancient place of Jewish worship of the Sephardic rite in Venice. The synagogue was almost certainly founded by the middle of the 16th century and then underwent a reconstruction about a century later. The external elevations are clearly of Longhenian inspiration and, although simple, are more elaborate than in the other schools, with the prominences of the entablatures and volutes in keystone, the mirrors on the walls, the ashlar base, the small ovate windows in the attic, and carved decoration in the doors. Outside you can see a ledge that corresponds to the bimah and some windows that allow lighting. This synagogue is still active for the rite in the cold months.

The plan is rectangular with the Aron and the bimah placed in a bifocal position. The baroque restoration of this synagogue is particularly important. The workshop of the city architect Baldassare Longhena participated in its reconstruction for the structure of the building and the sculptor Andrea Brustolon for its interiors, in particular for the pulpit. On the ground floor there is the Luzzatto school normally used as a study room. Upstairs the bimah, adorned with Solomonic columns with floral decorations, is placed on a base a high plinth. Three windows are accessed from the pulpit floor. Opposite the bimah is the Aron haQodesh which preserves the engravings in memory of the ten commandments. The Hebrew date that is read there is 5542, and corresponds to our year 1782. Here too the women’s gallery is traditionally placed at the top, and in ancient times it was also enclosed by grates. The bimah was inlaid by Andrea Brustolon. The women’s gallery, always in an elevated position, runs along one of the long sides.

Spanish School Synagogue
The Scola Ponentina is an ancient place of Jewish worship of the Sephardic rite in Venice. The synagogue, of Sephardi rite, was founded in 1581 and then underwent an almost complete reconstruction based on a project by the city architect Baldassare Longhena. It is the largest of the Venetian synagogues. It is still used for worship in spring and summer. Located in the campiello delle scole in front of the Levantine Scola, it is recognizable by the windows with colored glass and a large wooden door. The external facade is relatively simple, arranged over three floors.

The access portal is placed in the corner and on the main floor there are four large single-lancet windows with a round arch. The atrium leads to the staircase leading to the floor of the synagogue hall. Traditionally the room has a rectangular plan, with Bimah and Aron haQodesh arranged specularly on the smaller walls and the benches arranged along the larger walls. Scola with a bifocal system is dominated by an elliptical women’s gallery that runs through the entire room. Most likely the Baroque restoration was followed, as in the case of the Levantine School, by the workshop of Baldassare Longhena. The ceiling is richly worked while the floor is made up of white and gray tiles. The interior is enriched by three large chandeliers placed in the center of the room. On the ground floor of the building there are some equipment and furnishings of the ancient Kohanim school, a private synagogue that was once located in the Ghetto Novo.

Other religious buildings include:
Church of San Bonaventura;
Church of San Canciano;
Capuchin Church;
Church of the Abbey of Mercy;
Church of San Leonardo;
Church of Santa Caterina;
Church of Santa Maria delle Penitenti;
Church of San Felice;
Church of Santa Fosca;
Church of San Girolamo;
Church of San Marziale;
Church of Santa Sofia.

Cultural space

Franchetti Gallery at the Cà d’Oro
The Ca ‘d’Oro is a well-known palace of Venice, whose name derives from the fact that originally parts of the façade were covered with gold trim that was part of a complex polychromy, considered one of the greatest examples of Venetian floral Gothic. The façade is characterized by the marked asymmetry between the left side, in which three perforated bands overlap (portico for mooring boats on the ground floor and loggias on the upper floors), and the right wing, in which the covered masonry prevails. A frieze from the previous Zeno residence has been inserted between the left and right sides of the façade. The only element that gives continuity to the façade, conditioning and dominating it, is the large cornice with the battlements above. On the upper floor, the loggia of Reverti, composed of an exaphor which is instead a novelty for the time, as above the quadrilobes, aligned with the vertices of the arches of the openings. The capitals of the columns with fat leaves that rise in a spiral are reinterpreted in an unprecedented way, breaking the classic Venetian coeval symmetry. Even the balustradesbetween the columns they have a strong decorative spirit. The loggia on the top floor is composed of a further exaphor with cross-shaped openings aligned with the columns.

Since 1927 it has been used as a museum as the seat of the Franchetti Gallery. The gallery houses the collection of works of art collected by Giorgio Franchetti in his life. A collection of paintings and statues in an ancient 15th century palace. One of the best examples of Gothic architecture in Venice, sculptures, bronzes, paintings by Mantegna, Giorgione and Tiziano, Flemish and Dutch paintings. Among the most valuable works are the San Sebastiano by Andrea Mantegna, the Portrait of Marcello Durazzo by Antoon van Dyck, the Double portrait by Tullio Lombardo, the Venus in the mirror by Titian, views by Francesco Guardi, the sleeping Venus by Paris Bordone and large portions of the frescoes by Giorgione and Tiziano, coming from the two facades of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, among which the Giuditta stands out. By Vittore Carpaccioand workshop are the three canvases with the Stories of the Virgin from the Albanian School. In addition to the exhibition rooms, the museum houses various workshops for the conservation and restoration of works of art.

Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum of Venice is a widespread museum or an architectural and museum urban complex that includes exhibition spaces and synagogues present inside and outside the museum itself. Since 1990 it is regularly open to the public with guided tours, permanent and temporary exhibitions. Two other rooms are usually used for temporary exhibitions while on the top floor, near the entrance to the women’s gallery of the Scola Canton, you can visit an ancient Sukkah, now restored. Inside the museum there is also a bookshop specializing in judaica and a kosher café.

The permanent collection of the museum includes ritual and household objects related to Jewish holidays, Torah and synagogue decoration fabrics, a collection of ketubboth (marriage contracts), a collection of ancient books including an early printed Talmud by Daniel Bomberg in 1500. The exhibition spaces include: a silver room dedicated to ritual objects related to the various Jewish holidays and to the embellishments of the Torah (there are precious examples of Rimmonim, the tips of the sticks on which the Torah is rolled up, and of Ataroth, the crowns of the Torah); the second room, on the other hand, features decorative fabrics from the Synagogue, such as theparochet, tents by Aron haQodesh (among these particularly precious is that of Stella da Perugia from the 17th century) and the Mappoth, fabrics from the Torah.

Oratory of the Crociferi
The Oratorio dei Crociferi is a small museum in Venice which houses significant canvases by Jacopo Palma the Younger. It was founded in the twelfth century together with the hospital run by the Crociferi fathers, which later became a hospice and is still used for its original function. Born to give accommodation and care to those who were leaving for the Holy Land, during the fourteenth century it was transformed into a shelter for poor women who received care and accommodation here and learned a manual trade. Destroyed by a fire in the 15th century, the Doge Pasquale Cicogna supported its renovation and decoration, culminating in the works of Palma il Giovane. Heavily damaged by the flood of November 4, 1966, the Oratory was closed to the public for eighteen years, to allow for the necessary restoration works.

The oratory has a simple Gothic facade and an aerial passage that connects it to the Palazzo degli Zen, a noble family that benefited from it in the 13th century with the doge Renier Zen. Inside, the pictorial cycle, painted between 1583 and 1592, narrates episodes relating to the Crociferi fathers and the two benefactor doges. The opposite building, with a portal surmounted by crosses, also testifies to the presence of that order. Remains of the ancient church are also the paintings by Palma il Giovane preserved in the nearby Jesuit sacristy.

Public space

Bridge of the Three Arches
The Ponte dei Tre Archi is one of the major bridges in Venice, the only example of a Venetian bridge with three arches. The Tre Archi bridge crosses the Cannaregio Canal approximately halfway along its length and is characterized by a structure with three arches, two small lateral ones and one large central one. Like all Venetian bridges in the past, bridge of the three arches was devoid of protective its bridge body and equipped with much longer and lower steps. Work of the bridge can dated back to 1688 and restored in 1794, characteristics that gave it a particular elegance as documented by the prints of the period. It was restored in the late seventies of the twentieth century.

Bridge of the Spiers
The Guglie bridge is a bridge of Venice, the only Venetian bridge adorned with pinnacles, placed at the base of the handrails: the spiers from which it takes its name. The Cannaregio bridge was first built in wood in 1285. It was replaced by the current stone bridge in 1580, as evidenced by the inscriptions placed on the bridge itself. Restored in 1641 and 1677, it was rebuilt in 1823 with the addition of the spiers, for which it took its current name. In 1987, with a further restoration, a path for the disabled with metal handrails was added and the steps, which were previously in asphalt, are now in stone.

Cusine:

Near Rialto and Ca’ D’Oro
Alla Vedova: Delicious meatballs, or polpette, to have at the bar with a glass of wine but having a full meal there is an unforgettable experience. The setting is traditional and the food very good.
Al Remer: A mouthwatering array of food for an aperitivo every afternoon. A buffet lunch is served on weekdays while an a la carte menu is available at dinner.
Hosteria Bacanera: The richness and seasonality of its menu and the friendly professionality of the host, one of the most appreciated and locally frequented restaurants in the area.

Strada Nova
Al Timon: Enjoy to sit on a typical boat during the early evening and have your meal.
Osteria ai 40 Ladroni: Enjoy excellent freshwater fish.
Anice Stellato: For a more elegant and refined meal.
Trattoria dalla Marisa: Beyond the food, eating there is a unique experience because of the very local and authentic atmosphere.

Jewish Ghetto
Gam Gam: the kosher restaurant at the entrance of the must-visit Venice Jewish Ghetto.Everything is fresh there.

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