Encyclopedia

The sestiere of San Marco is bounded to the north by the Grand Canal; to the south, where the Piazza overlooks the Venetian Lagoon, by the basin of San Marco; to the west by Rio del Palazzo; and to the east by Rio de San Zulian. The sestiere is…

The origins of the island of San Michele, now commonly called the island of the Cemetery, can be traced back to the presence of the Camaldolese monks on the spot even though there are two versions currently accredited regarding their arrival on the…

San Polo is a very lively and interesting sestiere. The name of the sestiere derives from the ancient church dedicated to St Paul the Apostle, located in the largest square in Venice after St Mark's Square. Located right in the heart of the city,…

The origins and the first settlements It is assumed that the very first settlements on the island date back to the end of the year 600, when a group of Benedictine monks, driven out of the Franks by their first destroyed monastery of Santo Stefano d…

Overlooking the Adriatic Sea until a relatively recent past, it then became entirely surrounded by lagoon waters following the construction of the north dam of the Lido of Venice and the formation of what is now called Punta Sabbioni, Sant'Erasmo is…

Excluding the artificial island of Tronchetto, created in the mid-20th century and of which it is now part, Santa Croce is the smallest sestiere in Venice. Delineated to the north by the Grand Canal, the sestiere is bordered to the east and south-…

Located in the westernmost point of the Grand Canal just before the Scalzi church, slightly set back to make room for a huge square, it is connected to the bus station (Piazzale Roma) through the recent Constitution bridge. The building was built…

He was born in Koper on 29 March 1561 to Antonio, originally from Friuli, and Elisabetta Cordonia, from Koper. Antonio, the father, served the Serenissima as ammunition superintendent and at an early age Santorio moved to the lagoon city together…

Andrea Meldola or Meldolla, renamed Schiavone because he was born in Dalmatia, had the undisputed merit of inventing a new style of Venetian Renaissance painting that saw many admirers among his colleagues, in particular he was a point of reference…

There are two interpretations given for the name of this Jewish Scola: the first, the most original and interesting, focuses on its particular position on the cantón (‘corner’, in English) the other, as often happens with dwellings, is associated…

"Bet ha-kenèset hagedolà Kerminag askenazim" is the legible inscription on the entrance portal of the Synagogue and signifies that we are in front of the ‘great school according to the Germa n rite’, a gift from Joseph and Samuel Matatià.…

Five large arched windows symbolizing the five books of the Torah make the Italian Synagogue immediately recognisable from the outside. The most recent of the Synagogues of the Ghetto owes its construction, in particular, to the ‘Santa Comunità…