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Campo
Santa
Maria Formosa
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Church of Santa Maria Formosa
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We cut across Campiello
Querini Stampalia, go under the sotoportego and we
will be in elegant Campo Santa Maria
Formosa.
The church
of
Santa Maria Formosa was rebuilt by Mauro Codussi at the end of
the 15th century.
Its interior is divided into square sections separated by low columns
and arches, which give the church a human dimension. It contains
two amazing paintings, Santa Barbara
by Palma il Vecchio, and Madonna della Misericordia
by Bartolomeo Vivarini. During a recent visit on a cold December
afternoon, the church was completely packed and several priests, all
dressed in white, were celebrating mass in the Coptic rite.
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We walk around the
campanile
and on the canal side, above the doorway, we
will see a grotesque sculpture that inspired John Ruskin to say: "A
head - huge, inhuman, monstrous, leering in bestial degradation." As
usual, Ruskin took it too seriously. These grotesque sculptures,
called scacciadiavoli or
scare-demons, were used to keep bad spirits away. Other scacciadiavoli can be found at the
base of the bell-towers of San
Trovaso, in Dorsoduro, and San Giovanni Elemosinario, in San
Polo.
In medical terms, the face on the wall of Santa Maria Formosa seems to
represent somebody who suffered from neurofibromatosis. Campo Santa
Maria
Formosa
is the perfect place to unwind, sit down, have a cup of coffee, read
a book, engage in conversation or just watch people walk by.
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Campo Santa Maria Formosa
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Campo
Santa
Maria Formosa |
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Fondamenta
dei Preti
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Ponte del Paradiso
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We leave the campo by the
canal side, Fondamenta dei Preti. Before we
reach Ponte del Paradiso, we will see on our right an old funerary urn
inserted in the corner of a building and, across the canal - Rio del
Pestrin-, a beautifully decaying façade pierced by Gothic
windows.
Vivaldi used to live in this building at number 5879. Right across from
the entrance to the building is Ponte del Paradiso topped by a Gothic
arch
and a relief of the Madonna
della Misericordia. Calle del Paradiso is one of the most
charming corners of Venice. It showcases the true commercial spirit of
Venice amidst a medieval ambiance. If we take Calle del Paradiso, we
will end up back
in Salizada San Lio. This detour is worth taking if you are interested
in buying books about Venice. Libreria Editrice
Filippi will be on our left, just before we reach the Salizada.
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Gothic
window
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For many years Vivaldi
lived here
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Rio del Pestrin from
Ponte dei Preti
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Roman
funerary urn by Ponte dei Preti
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For generations, the
bookstore and publishing house Filippi has
specialized on Venetian
themes. It carries a large selection of new titles as well as old books
that are difficult to find elsewhere. Its owners will welcome you and
will make you feel at home.
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We retrace our steps but
before we leave Calle del Paradiso, we should take a look at one of its
most distinctive features: the wooden barbacane
that protrude from the walls at the second-floor level. This
architectural element, very common in Venice, was used to increase the
living space without obstructing the pedestrian traffic.
We cross Ponte del Paradiso again and walk alongside the canal,
Fondamenta del Dose, that leads to Calle del Dose and Calle de
Borgoloco where we turn right. This will take us to Ponte Borgoloco.
Its wrought iron railing is said to represent an acronym for Viva
(long live) Vittorio Emanuele.
Vittorio
Emanuele, King of Italy, visited Venice in 1866
when the bridge underwent its last reconstruction.
We retrace our steps,
cross Ponte Marcello and we will soon be in Campo Santa Marina.
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Campo Santa Marina is one
of the few campi
in Venice named after a saint and without a church. The church of Santa
Marina stood at numbers 6067 and 6068 but was demolished in 1820. It is
visible in Jacopo de' Barbari's map. Across from the Hotel Santa Marina
is Pasticceria Didovich
(Castello 5909) where you will find a fantastic assortment of pastries
plus some delicious vegetable tarts called salatine. Giovanni Bellini lived in
the parish of Santa Marina. He died on November 29, 1516 and was
buried,
alongside his brother Gentile, in the Scuola de Sant' Orsola, next to
the
church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
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de' Barbari's view of campi San
Lio, Santa Maria Formosa, Santa Marina
and Santi Giovanni e Paolo
We exit Campo Santa
Marina by Calle del Frutariol and make a right turn
at Calle de la Malvasia. We continue on Calle
del Pistor where, just before crossing the bridge (Ponte del Pistor),
the
excellent bakery Ponte delle Paste
is located. After crossing the bridge the street will take us back to
Campo San Lio.
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Campo
Santa
Marina
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Campo Santa Marina
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Real canoce
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Marzipan canoce at "Didovich"
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From Campo San Lio we
take Calle de la Fava that will lead us to the
church of Santa Maria de
la Fava, arguably the only church in the world named after a
legume.
How the church got its name is, like all things Venetian, shrouded in
mystery and the subject of controversy. Most likely the name derives
from the vendors of fava beans who brought their barges and their
business to the bridge opposite the church. In 1496, when the church
first opened as an oratory dedicated to a miraculous image of the
Madonna, the bridge was already known as Ponte de la Fava and the
church as Santa Maria del Ponte de la Fava. Marin Sanudo, the
chronicler of Venice, wrote in his diary on December 16, 1497, that
because of an outbreak of the plague, the Senate had asked the Pope to
postpone his annual Christmas pardon and to close the popular churches
of
"Madonna di Miracoli, San Zuan Crisostomo, San Fantin, and Santa Maria
dil Ponte di la Fava" so as to avoid the congregation of people and the
spread of the disease. The church was rebuilt in the first half of the
18th century. Among its works of art, Giambattista Tiepolo's Education of the Virgin, is the
most remarkable. The official name of the church is Santa Maria della
Consolazione.
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We begin our walk in
Campo Santa Marina which we exit by Calle and
Ponte del Cristo. From Ponte del Cristo the dreamlike view is
quintessential Venetian. As we
cross the bridge we enter Cannaregio. We turn right on Ponte de le
Erbe. The next bridge is Ponte Rosso from where we have a great view of
Rio dei Mendicanti and the Scuola di
San Marco. From this bridge, we can also see the last numbers of
the sestieri of Cannaregio
and Castello.
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Scuola Grande di San
Marco and church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo
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Rio
dei
Mendicanti from Ponte Rosso
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Hidden from view and to
the
right is the church of Santi
Giovanni
e Paolo (San
Zanipolo.) This church is consecrated to Saints John and Paul, two
brothers, two soldiers and two martyrs from the 4th century. Campo
Santi Giovanni e
Paolo is the perfect spot to sit down for a
drink or a cup of coffee. Rosa Salva,
a Venetian institution that offers delicious pastries and savory
treats, is conveniently located just across from the side door of the
church.
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Campo and church Santi Giovanni
e Paolo
Impressive stained-glass windows, a
rarity in Venice, grace the
church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo considered the Venetian Pantheon
because many doges are entombed here. The inlaid polychrome marble
floors are simply stunning.
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church is a treasure trove of art and architectural details. The
chapel of the Rosary, accessible through a door at the end of the left
transept is well worth visiting. The beautifully carved wood panels,
end of
17th century, were
originally from the Scuola della Carità. They are the work of
Giacomo Piazzetta and depict scenes from the life of Christ and Mary.
The chapel was damaged by fire in 1867 and restored to its former glory
in the 20th century. The church houses many works by
Pietro, Antonio and Tullio Lombardo and a rare nine-panel painting by
Giovanni Bellini, Saint Vincent
Ferrer, that contains a poignant Saint Sebastian. The former
Scuola di Sant' Orsola, for which Carpaccio's Saint Ursula
cycle was originally painted (now at the Accademia), stood next to the
apse of the church. The Bellini brothers, Gentile and Giovanni, were
buried in this small scuola. The remains of the
Venetian patriots, brothers Attilio and Emilio Bandiera, and
Domenico Moro rest in this church, near the entrance. |
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Gentile (left) and
Giovanni Bellini (right) and between them a white-haired man. Detail
from Gentile Bellini's Procession in
the Piazza San Marco.
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Tombs of the Bandiera brothers and
Domenico Moro
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The beautifully
sculpted wellhead in the middle of
the campo was moved here in
1825 from its original location in the sestiere of San Marco. At the base, a Latin inscription
reads: "Mira silex mirusque latex
qui flumina vincit" which can be more literarily than literally
translated as:
"Wonderful stone and even more wonderful this water, that surpasses
that
of the rivers."
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The
equestrian statue in
the middle of the campo was
designed
by Andrea Verrocchio and shows the mercenary
captain, condottiere,
Bartolomeo Colleoni who victoriously commanded the Venetian
land forces for many years. In his will he left most of his fortune to
the Venetian state on condition that a monument be erected in his honor
in front of San Marco. His wish was granted, almost. The statue was
erected in front of San Marco, the
Scuola not the Basilica
as he had intended. It should be noted that the Venetian abhorred the
cult of personality. In the ten centuries of the Venetian Republic no
public figure had a statue erected anywhere in the city, much less in
Piazza San Marco.
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The Scuola di San
Marco today houses the Civic Hospital. Its façade, a work of
Pietro
Lombardo
and Mauro Codussi, was recently restored. Get close to the main door
and
admire the amazing trompe l'oeil.
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On
the main doorjamb, a few inches from the floor, there is a small
drawing, etched in the stone, of a man with a turban carrying a heart
in his left hand. A
terrible story is associated with this etching. According to legend, a
handsome young man, the son of a prosperous Levantine merchant and a
Venetian mother, lived with his father on the Island of Giudecca but
often visited his Christian mother who lived in this area of Castello.
He dressed in the Turkish fashion, like his father, but unlike him had
a hard time fitting into society, feeling rejected by both the Jewish
and the Christian communities. Perhaps as a result of this inner
conflict, perhaps because he was just plain rotten, he mistreated his
mother to the point of violently beating her. But she always forgave
him. One night, he got completely out of control, stabbed her and
ripped her heart from her chest. As he ran away in horror, carrying the
heart in his left hand, he tripped on the steps of Ponte Cavallo, in
front of
the scuola, and fell to the
ground. Then he heard the voice of his mother coming from the heart and
asking: "Did you hurt yourself, my
son?" In desperation, the young man ran to the edge of the
lagoon and drowned himself. A beggar, a stonecutter by trade, who used
to spend the nights by the door of the scuola, witnessed the incident and
made the etching that we see today.
As Venetian as the legend sounds, I
believe this is a dressed-up, local color-added, European tale. I
heard the same
story, minus the turban and the scuola, from my mother's lips as a kid
growing up in Argentina. In turn, my mother probably heard it from her
Piedmontese grandmother. My guess is that a story so impossibly
gruesome is hard
to forget and likely to spread. Despite all, Venice must be the only
place in the world with a graffito
of it.
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We walk to the Fondamente Nuove, the northern edge
of the city, by the side of the hospital. From there we'll have a
splendid view of the lagoon and the cemetery island of San Michele, the
resting
place of many personalities: Igor Stravinsky, Ezra Pound, Sergei
Diaghilev, Joseph Brodsky and Christian Doppler, among many others. It
was precisely Joseph Brodsky who in his brilliant Venetian reflection " Watermark" wrote the following
words about this corner of Venice:
" I remember one day -the day I had to
leave after a month here alone. I had just had lunch in some small
trattoria on the remotest part of the Fondamente Nuove, grilled fish
and half a bottle of wine. With that inside, I set out for the place I
was staying, to collect my bags and catch the vaporetto. I walked a
quarter of a mile along the Fondamente Nuove, a small moving dot in
that gigantic watercolor, and then turned right by the hospital of San
Giovanni e Paolo. The day was warm, sunny, the sky blue, all lovely.
And
with my back to the Fondamente and San Michele, hugging the wall of the
hospital, almost rubbing it with my left shoulder and squinting at the
sun, I suddenly felt: I am a cat. A cat that has just had fish. Had
anyone addressed me at that moment, I would have meowed. I was
absolutely, animally happy."
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We return to Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo and exit it by the side of
the
church, Salizada
San Zanipolo, and turn right on Corte Veniera. This will take us to
Fondamenta dei Felzi. From the beautiful iron bridge, Ponte dei Consafelzi, we will have
the perfect view of a most remarkable building,
Palazzo Tetta, that cuts the canal in two like a ship cuts the waters
of the ocean. As you face the palazzo, look up to your right where you
will see an unusual chimney that, for a moment, will make you
forget that you are in Venice and will take you to the Far East. As I
was wandering in this area of Venice some years ago, I saw a
handwritten sign posted on a front door that
read "Si pregano i signori 'Animali' di lasciare libera la porta dall'
inmondizia (loosely translated as: "We beg the animal gentlemen to keep the
door free of garbage." Like the one at the church of San
Giovanni de Malta mentioned earlier, this
sign
was one of many that I saw scattered
in different corners of the city and I couldn't help but think that for
a republic to survive for a thousand years, diplomacy must
be ingrained in its citizens' DNA. |
Palazzo Tetta on Rio de
S. Giovanni Laterano, left,
and
Rio de la Tetta, right
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We take Calle Bragadin o
del Pinelli
that ends at Calle Longa Santa Maria Formosa
where we turn left. You will soon be on Fondamenta and Ponte Tetta.
Unlike its more famous cousin, Ponte delle Tette (in the sestiere of
San
Polo) named after the flashy-fleshy merchandise displayed by the
local prostitutes, the 'Tetta'
of this remote part of Castello refers to the noble family Tetta who
had their residence in the palazzo
around the corner. After crossing Ponte de l'Ospedaleto we will be on
Calle de l'Ospedaleto that will take us to Barbaria de le Tole. To our
left is the ornate façade of the church of Santa Maria
dei Derelitti or 'de
l'Ospedaleto'
(a work by Longhena). This
church, like Vivaldi's La
Pietà, has a long and distinguished musical tradition.
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The
area around Rio de San
Giovanni Laterano seems like a very remote part of Venice, but don't
let
the absence of tourists fool you. From antique dealers to marble
artisans, they all have their shops here, especially on Barbaria de le
Tole that
soon becomes Calle del Cafetier, at the end of which is Campo de Santa
Giustina or de Barbaria.
In
this campo there is a
small free-standing
building,
the Oratorio
Beata Vergine Addolorata,
one of the few of its kind remaining
in
Venice.
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Rio de
S.
Giovanni Laterano
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Ponte Capello on Rio de la Tetta
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We take Calle Zon and
after
crossing the bridge, Ponte Santa Giustina, we reach the fondamenta of
the same name. To our right is the scenic Campo Santa Giustina. The
church and convent of Santa Giustina closed in 1810. Today the building
houses the Liceo Scientifico.
We retrace our steps on Fondamenta Santa Giustina and take Calle San
Francesco
de la Vigna, at the end of which we will see half the façade of
the church of San Francesco de la Vigna
designed by Andrea Palladio.
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San Francesco de la Vigna
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San Francesco de la Vigna, cloister
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The
church was built using the number three, a reference to the Holy
Trinity, as an important design element. The interior has the splendid
painting by Antonio Falier da Negroponte, Madonna and Child, a stunning
transition piece between the Gothic and the Renaissance styles, as well
as
other works by Giorgione, Vivarini and Giovanni Bellini. The vineyards
after which the church is named are unfortunately closed to the public,
but the cloister is open.
In the background, the
bell tower of the church of San Francesco de la Vigna
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We exit the area by the
side of
the church, Campo de la Confraternita,
where
I
once saw a graffiti that
said:
"OKKUPARE
GLI SFITTI
BLOCCARE
GLI SFRATTI
LA CASA E UN DIRITTO!"
(Occupy the vacant
houses. Block the evictions. Housing is a right.)
And I couldn't help but think how strange that in a place with so many
vacant houses, housing could still be a problem. We follow the street
Corte drio la Chiesa and after a few turns and bends we will be in Campo de la Celestia,
one of the few campi
in Venice that actually has grass.
This area of Venice, behind the
Arsenale, has a number of blocks with relatively new apartment
buildings. In a small corner of the campo
I once saw a ten-year old
girl selling her treasures all lovingly arranged on the pavement
stones:
a postcard, a comb, a pencil, a transparent plastic purse shaped like a
heart with a vibrant red rim and red handles. I couldn't help but think
that for a republic to survive for a thousand years, entrepreneurship
must
have been ingrained in its citizens' DNA. I should have put my
inhibitions
aside and bought that purse.
From Campo de la Celestia we take Fondamenta del Cristo and cross Ponte
del Suffragio o del Cristo and we will be in lovely Campo Santa
Ternita (Holy Trinity). The church of Santa Ternita was
destroyed in
1832. This campo invites us
to sit down and enjoy the
intimate setting: the campanile,
the
chimneys, the beautiful wellhead, the two bridges, the sound of
running water, the color-coordinated laundry hanging from the windows,
and the old ladies peeking from their balconies decorated with wooden
flowers. This is Venice at her best.
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We
exit Campo Santa Ternita from the opposite side we came in, cross the
bridge and take Calle Donà that leads us to Calle Magno were we
make a right turn. A few yards away is the Sotoportego de l'Anzolo with
a beautiful sculpture of an angel flanked by two hedgehogs (riccio in Italian), the crest of
the Rizzo family.
We reach Campo dei do Pozzi
(Campo of the Two Wellheads) that, despite
its name, has only one. However, it must have had two wellheads
centuries ago, as suggested by the relief on the remaining wellhead.
The relief of the three
angels represents the Holy Trinity (a common iconographic symbol in
Eastern Christianity), a reference to the nonextant church of Santa
Ternita. A relief of Saint Martin is shown on the opposite side, a
reference to the nearby church of San Martino. The
wellhead, in Istrian stone, dates from the 16th century.
Some scenes from the movie Bread and
Tulips were shot in this campo.
We
exit the campo by
Calle del Forno that takes us to Calle dei Scudi where we turn left.
After a few yards we turn right on Calle de l'Arco that will lead us to
Salizada and Campo Sant' Antonin.
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We
start our walk on Riva
degli Schiavoni by Ponte de la Ca' di Dio. We
cross the next bridge, Ponte de l'Arsenal, and turn left on the
fondamenta. The little grassy area, under the shade of the trees, is
very inviting for a break in the heat of summer, and offers a
postcard view in the dead of winter.
A few years ago, the day
before the Regata
Storica,
held the first Sunday in September, on Rio de l'Arsenal I had a close
view of some of the magnificent boats that would
be on parade the next day, as many of them were moored overnight in
this
area of Venice.
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Rio de l'Arsenal before
Regata Storica
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Rio de l'Arsenal before
Regata Storica
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Rio de
l'Arsenal before Regata Storica
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Regata
Storica
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The Museo
Storico
Navale, on the corner of the riva
and the fondamenta, a few
steps away from
Ponte de l'Arsenal, is worth the visit. Organized in three main floors,
the museum offers a panoramic and detailed view of the maritime history
of Venice from its beginnings to the modern era. One of its highlights
is a scaled-down reproduction of the ceremonial barge, the Bucintoro (a word that may derive
from burcio, a type of
Venetian ship and d'oro,
golden) , which was dismantled
and burnt after the fall of Venice in the hands of Napoleon. It is said
that 400 mules were used by the French soldiers to carry away the gold
recovered from the ship. Recently, the Fondazione
Bucintoro has undertaken the construction of a new Bucintoro at
the
Arsenal. Some of the boats on display on the upper floors of the museum
are so big that the façade of the building had to be demolished
to get them in. This museum is a true gem; there is so much to see that
you should plan a visit in the early morning. The museum is closed in
the afternoon.
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As we exit the museum we
turn right on the fondamenta
and
walk almost to the end where we cross Ponte de l'Arsenal or del
Paradiso to Campo
de l'Arsenal. In this picturesque campo
we can admire the entrance to
the Arsenal,
which for many centuries was the engine behind Venice's power. Here is
where the Venetian ships were built as early as in the 12th century.
The assembly line was an integral part of the Arsenal's operation
centuries
before Henry Ford, credited with inventing it, put it to use for
automobile manufacture in the USA. The word Arsenal (Arsenal in
Venetian, Arsenale in
Italian) is derived from the Arabic word Dar al
Sina'a, which means workshop. From Venice, the word has passed
into most European languages with a slightly different meaning.
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Unmistakable symbols of
Venice,
several lions guard the entrance to the Arsenal. The most curious one
is the lion on the
west side of the entrance. It was part of the spoils of war brought by
Doge
Morosini in 1687 from Piraeus (the port of Athens). It has some
Runic symbols engraved on its shoulder, probably the work of a Norse
soldier fighting for the Byzantine emperor in the 11th century.
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Left: The real thing at
the Arsenal. Above: Copy at the Port of Piraeus
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Dante visited the Arsenal
on two
occasions, in 1306 and 1321. The impression that the place made on him
must have been very strong as the Canto XXI of his Inferno testifies. A
marble plaque on the side of the main portal commemorates this.
As in the Arsenal of the
Venetians, in winter, the sticky pitch for smearing their unsound
vessels is boiling, because they cannot go to sea, and, instead
thereof, one builds him a new bark, and one caulks the sides of that
which hath made many a voyage; one hammers at the prow, and one at the
stern; another makes oars, and another twists the cordage; and one the
foresail and the mainsail patches,—so, not by fire, but by divine art,
a thick pitch was boiling there below, which belimed the bank on every
side. I saw it, but saw not in it aught but the bubbles which the
boiling raised, and all of it swelling up and again sinking compressed.
If it's open, Bar
Arsenale is the perfect place to sit down and unwind while
taking in
the view. If not, we will continue on Fondamenta de Fazza l'Arsenal
that
will lead us to Campo
San Martino and the homonymous church.
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On our way to the church,
we will pass to our right the beautiful Ponte del Purgatorio and the
not so beautiful Ponte de l'Inferno.
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Ponte del Purgatorio
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Ponte de l'Inferno
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Saint Martin of Tours is
a
cosmopolitan saint, a true son of the Roman Empire. Born in 316 in
Sabaria (modern Szombathely in Hungary, near the Austrian border), he
was educated in Pavia, present-day Italy, and became a soldier in the
Roman Army. Drawn to Christianity, the newly
proclaimed legal religion of the Empire, from his youth, Martin was
forced by his
father to join the Roman army as a way to dissuade him from entering
the religious life. In what became the most famous incident of his
life, at the age of 21 he gave half of his cape to a shivering beggar
he encountered at the gates of Amiens in France. He kept the other half
because it belonged to the Roman Army. The relics of the cape were
guarded in France by a custodian called capellanus, a term from which the
words chaplain and chapel derive. The feast of Saint
Martin is celebrated on November 11th. In Venice, a traditional cookie
in the shape of a horse with a rider wearing a cape is baked for this
occasion. The church of San
Martin (Venetian)
or San Martino (Italian) was built in 1550 by Sansovino. Among its
works of arts, there are beautiful pieces by Tullio Lombardo and the
ceiling fresco by Domenico Bruni and
Jacopo Guarana, a remarkable trompe
l'oeil.
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Campo San Martin
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San Martin giving his
cape to a beggar
(marble plaque next to
the church)
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Ponte Storto and church
of
San Martin from Fdm. del Tintor
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Campo San Martin
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On the façade of
the church of San Martin there is one of the few remaining bocche di leone used by the people
for anonymous denunciations. Another one can still be seen outside the
church of Santa Maria della Visitazione on the Zattere, in Dorsoduro,
and another one in the Doge's Palace. A stone's-throw away from Campo
San
Martin, on Calle del Pestrin off Fondamenta del Tintor, is the
emblematic restaurant Corte Sconta.
One of the best
places in town to enjoy Venetian food.
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Giardini
We begin our walk at
Ponte de l'Arsenal. We walk on Riva San Biagio
past the Museo Storico Navale and the church of San Biagio. As we cross
the next bridge, Ponte de la Veneta Marina or de le
Cadene, the wide Via Garibaldi will be on our left. Giovanni Caboto,
the New World explorer credited with discovering Canada while at the
service of King Henry VII of England, and his son Sebastiano Caboto,
explorer of
South America, lived in the corner house (Castello 1642).
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Via Garibaldi
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Caboto
lived
here
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Via
Garibaldi was built on a filled-in canal in the Napoleonic period.
Today,
it is not only the commercial hub of this part of Castello, but also
the
gateway to the Giardini Pubblici.
We
will walk to the end of it. Midway
and on our left we will see Corte Nova. This quaint corte, with its two
wellheads, was already depicted in de' Barbari's view of Venice of
1500. Little has changed since then, but you will notice that the gates
at each end of the corte have been removed. Both wellheads date from
the first half of the 14th century. One is in Istrian stone, and the
other, more ornate, in pink Verona marble.
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Further up Via Garibaldi
and across from the church of San Francesco di Paola, we'll find Il
Nuovo Galeon, a great place to
have fresh and perfectly cooked seafood and succulent pastas in a
friendly atmosphere. The last time I was there, I got looks of horror
and amazement from my British neighbors as I savored a delicious seppie in umido col nero
(cuttlefish swimming in its own ink).
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We walk to the end of Via
Garibaldi where the
canal begins (Rio de Sant' Anna) and take the fondamenta on the left of
the canal, Fondamenta S. Gioachin. This is a very colorful area of
Venice that exudes local character. We make a left turn at the end of
the fondamenta on Calle drio el Forner that will take us to Fondamenta
del Forner. We cross Ponte Rielo and ahead of us is Calle Ruga where we
turn left; after crossing the campo,
the
street becomes Salizada
Streta. At the intersection with Calle Larga de Castello we turn right.
This takes us to the long bridge of San Piero and to the Campo and Church of San Piero
(San Pietro di Castello in Italian).
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Rio de
Sant 'Anna
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Rielo
and
Ponte Rielo
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Fondamenta del Forner and P. Rielo
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Fdm. San Gioachin
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San Piero de
Castello was Venice's cathedral until 1807. Its remote location
is
testimony to the distance that for centuries separated the political
power, centered around San Marco, and the Vatican. The citizens of La
Serenissima always felt that they were Venetians first and then
Christians ("veneziani, poi cristiani.")
The free-standing campanile is very easy to recognize from a distance,
not only because is slightly leaning but also because it is the only
one totally clad in white Istrian stone, a work of Mauro Codussi from
the end
of 15th century.
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I visited the church on a
Sunday
morning in the middle of Communion, at the end of the 10 o'clock Mass.
The church was packed like the end of the world was imminent.
Respectfully, I left and sat outside in the beautiful campo, under the
trees. After several days of carrying my photographic equipment around
town for hours on end, my back had reacted with unbearable pain; the
hard wooden benches on Campo San Piero were not helping. Fifteen
minutes passed and hearing intense clapping inside, but seeing no one
coming out of the church, I decided to go in again. A priest was
speaking but I couldn't fully understand what he was saying. I must
have taken ten steps
inside the church when several folks gave me a look that paralyzed me
in my tracks. Trying to find a surface to lean on to alleviate my
backache, I gave two more steps to position myself next to a column and
got the same look again, this time accompanied by a loud shush. I felt
that I had violated some ancient and mysterious rule. I couldn't deny,
after all, that I was a tourist like a million others. I was
embarrassed
and a little perplexed by such unexpected reaction; Venetians are a
very polite and tolerant people. I later learned,
through fliers posted all around this area of Castello, that the
parishioners were honoring and giving thanks to Don Gabriele for seven
and a half years of ministry. I couldn't help but think how typical
Venetian the whole incident was. The parishioners didn't stop me when I
walked in in the
middle of Communion but they objected when I dared to walk during the
priest's farewell. Veneziani, poi
cristiani.
During my wait outside the church I got my reward. A Maltese dog like
the one in Saint Augustine in His
Study
was lying next to me. I felt Carpaccio's ghost sitting on my
shoulder.
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In the middle of the
walkway that leads to the main entrance to the church, a white stone
stands out from the rest. This is the place where, according to
protocol, the Patriarch would welcome the Doge when he visited the
church. Not one inch to spare!
We leave the campo by
Calle drio
el Campanile that takes us to Fondamenta and Ponte de Quintavale. After
crossing the bridge, we will be on Rio de Sant' Anna again.
We walk along the fondamenta
to the entrance to the Giardini
Pubblici with
its monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi. The gardens were established at the
beginning of the 19th century, during Napoleon's rule, part on
reclaimed marshland and part on well-established areas. Many historic
buildings were demolished to make way for the gardens. The Giardini
host the Venice Biennale in
several pavilions, each one sponsored by a different country from
Austria to Venezuela, just to mention two.
"Galaxy Forming along
Filaments, like Droplets along the Strands of a Spider's Web,"
by Tomás Saraceno,
Venice Biennale, 2009.
From the Giardini we have one of
the most beautiful panoramic views of Venice's skyline. No photo can
capture
the view, especially at sunset when the black silhouettes of La Salute
and San Marco contrast against a crimson sky. Perhaps this is one of
those instances when a few words can say more than a thousand pictures;
especially when they are George Sand's:
"The sun had already set behind
the hills of Vicenza. Great purple clouds were passing over the
Venetian sky. The tower of San Marco, the dome of Santa Maria and the
nursery-garden of spires and steeples rising from every corner of the
city stood out as black needles against the sparkling horizon. The sky
turned by subtle gradations from cherry red to cobalt blue while the
water, smooth and clear as a mirror, faithfully reproduced its infinite
iridescence; it lay like a vast sheen of copper below the city. Never
have I seen Venice more beautiful and enchanted. Its black silhouette,
cast between the sky and the glowing waters as on to a sea of fire,
seemed to be one of those sublime architectural aberrations the poet of
the Apocalypse must have seen floating on the shores of Patmos as he
dreamt of the New Jerusalem and likened it in its beauty to a newly wed
bride." George Sand, 'Lettres
d'un Voyageur.'
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Inside
the
Giardini we take Paludo San Antonio which will lead us to the
district of Sant' Elena. This
is one of the newest areas of
Venice. Contrary to what many people, Venetians and travel-book
writers included, may say, this is an enchanting area of
Venice. Granted that there are no impressive palazzi or works of art to
admire, but Sant' Elena is only a short vaporetto ride away from all
that, while its residents have the luxury of enjoying a lush
and quiet surrounding, away from the mass of tourists. As you walk on
Viale Quattro Novembre on a sunny summer
afternoon, underneath the refreshing tree canopy, you can enjoy the
spectacular view of the Bacino di San Marco on one side, framed by a
backdrop of distant islands, and on the other, amid unpretentious
but pleasing architecture, the many little gardens with rosebushes and
oleanders in bloom.
We make a left turn on Viale Piave. This takes us to Ponte Sant' Elena
and to the austere church of Sant' Elena.
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Many places around the
world are named after Saint Helena, Constantine
the Great's mother and the godmother of Christianity, but this tiny
area of Venice is the real deal. Forget the Saint Helens of volcanic
proportions or the Saint Helenas of Napoleonic and Napa-Valley fame,
the unassuming church of Sant' Elena, almost falling off the map of
Venice, is the only place that deserves to be called such, as it houses
the relics of the saint. Her remains are displayed in a glass
sarcophagus in one of the side chapels to the right of the entrance.
Dressed in a golden gown she wears a mask and slippers. As I sat all by
myself in the deserted church in front of her relics, I felt 1500 years
of history condensed in one spot, as I pondered how one
single woman could have so dramatically changed the faith, and in so
doing, the fate of the Western world.
The picture below is the right bottom corner of de' Barbari's
map. Below the Subsolanus wind, barely discernible is only half of the
façade of Sant' Elena, indicating the lack of importance of this
peripheral area. The island was cut off from the rest of Venice.
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The church, originally
founded in 1175, underwent many transformations.
It was deconsecrated by the French and reopened more than a century
later in 1929. Its campanile, demolished when the church was closed,
was rebuilt in 1958.
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We leave the church and
after
crossing the beautiful Parco delle
Rimembranze,
we go
back to the Riva. In front of
the
Giardini is the monument to the Partigiana,
a moving bronze at
water level created by artist Augusto Murer in the 1960s to honor the
Venetian women of the resistance who fell during World War II.
We cross Ponte San Domenego and
take Riva dei Sette Martiri (named after seven Venetians shot by the
Nazis) on our way back to San Marco. To our right are the twin
entrances
to La Marinarezza, a housing
project first built in 1335.
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From Ponte de San
Domenego
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Casa della Marinarezza
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During the winter month,
the Riva hosts an amusement
park. The rides used to be closer to San Marco and now are closer to
the Giardini. It's the perfect place for a lively stroll on a sunny
Sunday afternoon.
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Summer or Winter, sunny or
cloudy, one thing is certain, this area of Venice is always delightful.
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This completes our tour of
Castello.
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