118 the islands of central Venice are divided into six districts, called sestieri. The buildings in each sestiere are numbered sequentially, which only matters to the postmen, because buildings facing each other in one street can often have numbers very distant from each other.
Most of the main monuments are grouped together in the sestiere San Marco and consequently it is the most expensive and crowded neighborhood in the city. It is bordered by Castello to the east, and in the north of Cannaregio, which the farther from the center, they become all the more residential districts and become more and more peaceful, a poorer appearance. The largest of the sestieri on the other side of the Grand Canal is Dorsoduro, which stretches from the elegant neighborhood at the eastern end (around the Salute Church) to the docks to the west. Holy Cross (the name of the church that has been liquidated today) it stretches along the south bank of the Grand Canal from Piazzale Roma almost to Rialto, where it borders on the most elegant and commercially resilient district on this shore, San Polo.
To the uninitiated, the boundaries of the sestieri may seem arbitrary, nor are they of much use in a guide layout. Thus, although in some cases we have used sestiere as a very general way to pinpoint a location, the boundaries of the following subsections have been drawn by us because of their practical significance, i, except San Marco, do not coincide with the official division.
Saint Mark
Bordered by the southern semicircle of the Grand Canal, this rectangle measuring less than 1000 on 500 meters, covers all of Venice from tourist brochures. Elegant hotels are concentrated here, fancy shops and the most famous monuments and museums. Despite the small size of the district, there are places here, where tourists do not go.
St. Mark's Square
Napoleon called Piazza San Marco (the only piazza in Venice, all other squares are called campi or campielli) “The most beautiful salon in Europe”. On a muggy summer afternoon, words that are a bit less noble are on the lips, but it is a relief to know the fact, that the square was always crowded. The influx of foreigners is also not a new phenomenon: parades, fairs and other celebrations attracted newcomers from all over the continent and beyond, and the biggest attraction was the huge, International Trade Fair, zwane Fair of Sensa, thanks to which for two weeks, after the celebration of Venice's wedding to the sea, celebrated on the feast of Ascension, there was a lot of traffic in the square. The cafes in the Piazza were an important part of the life of the 18th-century cream of society, and the two remaining premises after this period, Florian and Pictures, they are still the most elegant and expensive in the city. Espresso coffee in Floriana costs 5000L plus an additional fee for the opportunity to listen to old hits performed by a little-known local music band.
Most of the square's architecture comes from the period of great reconstruction, which began at the end of the 15th century and lasted for much of the next century. The exception to this rule is (outside the basilica itself) Campanile, which was built in the 9th century, and later modified many times until the beginning of. sixteenth century. The current tower is a reconstruction of the original one, which, without hurting anyone, collapsed 14 VII1902 (this accident initiated the production of an endless series of postcards, which allegedly captured the very moment of the crash). The tower, however, completely destroyed Loggetta at its feet, which somehow managed to put back together. Built in the years 1537-1549 by Sansovin, it served as a meeting place for the local elite, guard booth and state lottery drawing hall. Campanile is the tallest building in the city (99 m) and from its top you can recognize almost every building, but you can't see any of the channels (codz. 9.30-15.30 or 19.30, depending on the season; close. 25 XII and all of I.; 3000L).
The second tower in the Piazza is erected between 1496-1506 Clock Tower (in summer Tue-Sat. 9.00-12.00 i 15.00-18.00, nd. 9.00-12.00; in winter Tue-Sat. 9.00-12.00 i 15.00-17.00, nd. 9.00-12.00). The stairs leading past the clock mechanism lead to the terrace, where the so-called. Moors. Watchmakers may be interested in going there, because the panorama from here does not equal the view from the Campanile, and observe, as the figures of the Moors chime the hours, you might as well from the square level.
To the left of this is the long Procuratie Vecchie, the construction of which began in 1500 Coducci. It housed the offices of the team of nine prosecutors of St.. Brand, whose job was to maintain the basilica and other public buildings. After about a hundred years in office, prosecutors were transferred to the other side of the square, do Procuratie Nuove. Napoleon ordered these apartments and offices to be converted into a royal palace, and when he realized, that there was no ballroom in the building, ordered the destruction of the Church of San Geminiano, to be able to connect two Procuratie with a new one, the wing intended for dancing.
The short side of the square, known as Ala Napoleonica, it is partially occupied by huge, distributed over three floors of the Museo Correr (Wed-Mon. 10.00-16.00, nd. 9.00-12.30; 3000L). There is a historical museum here with a large collection of coins, weapons, regalia, old prints, mid-range images, e.t.c., most of which are only fascinating to those who know Venice's history. The second floor is occupied by Quadreria, which is not a serious competition for the Accademia collections, but it clearly shows the evolution of Venetian painting from the 13th century to approx. 1500 r. (However, not all the canvases exhibited here are the work of the Venetians). The exhibition also includes wonderful art gems, m.in. The Pieta of Cosimo Tury, or the Transfiguration and the Dead Christ supported by the angels of Giovanni Bellini. The painting by Carpaccio stands out as well, known as Courtesans, although its theme are two townswomen from the end of the 15th century, whose clothing would not surprise their contemporaries at all.
There is also an interesting exhibition of Venetian applied art, in which authentic forms stand out and made of them in a year 1500 ready print of Jacopo de'Barbari's amazing aerial view of Venice. The last part of Correr, Museum of the Risorgimento, it is also located on the second floor, but it is rarely open. This will mostly worry fans of Daniele Manin, because five of the museum's fifteen halls are devoted to his revolt against the Austrians.