Venice – San Polo
For practical reasons, a district, which we called SAN-POLO, denotes an area approximately twice as large as the sestiere of the same name, and includes, among others. a large part of the Santa Croce sestiere and a fragment of Dorsoduro, and it is limited by the Granda and Rio Nuovo-Rio di Ca'Fóscari canals (Shortcut, Diretto trams run). These channels are difficult to cross unknowingly, which can be easily done for sestieri boundaries.
Rialto
Relatively stable construction area and favorable defensive location attracted some of the first Venetian settlers to the high bank (high stream) on the Granda canal, which later became the Rialto district. The city's political life revolved around San Marco, while Rialto was a commercial center. The first state-owned bank in Europe was opened here in the 12th century, and the financiers who lived in this district at the time were among the most important figures on the international stock exchanges for at least the next three centuries. There were also state offices, which guided all maritime affairs, and at the beginning. 16th century in the newly erected Palazzo dei Camerlenghi (at the Rialto Bridge) the offices of the Ministry of Finance were placed.
Rialto was also an example of the close relationship between wealth and moral decline. The census made at the end of the 16th century showed approx 3000 patrician, but over 11 000 prostitutes, most of whom lived in the bankers' district. Staff of one of the Rialto brothels, Casteletto, he was known especially for his literary talents, music, not to mention the love technique, and Venice's constant bestseller was the directory with the addresses and prices of services of the most attractive courtesans in the city.
Thanks to the fair held in Rialto, Venice has gained the name of the bazaar of Europe. You could buy or sell practically anything here; materials, Gems, silver plates, gold jewelry, spices and dyes from the East. After more than four centuries since the founding of the local fair, in year 1514 there was a fire here, which actually consumed the entire neighborhood, except the church. The possibility of relocating the shopping center elsewhere was then considered, but because such voices were not supported, rebuilding began immediately. Five years after the fire, the Fabbriche Vecchie was completed (buildings with arcades at Ruga degli Orefici and around Campo San Giacomo), and thirty years later made according to the design of Sansovino Fabbriche Nuove (along the Grand Canal, starting with Campo Cesare Battisti).
Today, the Rialto market is calmer than when it was at its peak in Venice, but it is still one of the liveliest spots in the city, and also one of the few places, where almost only Italian is heard. There is a crowd of souvenir sellers by the church and on the Ruga degli Orefeci, while the actual market is a bit further away, towards the Grand Canal. It consists of fruit stalls around Campo San Giacomo, vegetable stands and butcher shops on Campo Battisti and from the fish market (the fairs are basically open until 13.00, but some stalls also open in the late afternoon). There are great cheese shops at the intersection of Ruga degli Orefici and Ruga Vecchia San Giovanni, a na Ruga Vecchia, between kitsch traders, there is additionally a number of good alimentari.
A legend known in Venice has it, that the city was founded exactly at noon on Friday, 25 brand 421 year, and that in the same year the Church of San Giacomo di Rialto was erected (codz. 10.00-12.00), which is to be the oldest in Venice. It is not excluded, but it is a fact, that the church was rebuilt in a year 1071 and part of today's church, e.g.. six Venetian-Byzantine capitals, topping columns of ancient Greek marble, it comes from this period. Departing from the Rialto along the Grand Canal you enter the district, in which it is difficult to orientate, even by Venetian standards. A walk around the area between Rio delle Baccerie and Rio di San Degola provides a strong aesthetic experience even for very picky amateurs of picturesque scenery, because every now and then you come across workshops squeezed into one-story rooms or located in gardens adjacent to the canal.
Leaving Rialto, you usually pass the Church of San Cassiano (pn.-sb. 9.45-11.30 i 16.30-19.00). From the outside, it looks like a barn, but inside it hides three paintings by Tintoretto: Resurrection, Descent into the abyss and Crucifixion. The first two are under renovation, but the third, unusual scene, dominated not by the cross, and through the ladder, on which the torturers of Christ stand, is one of the finest paintings in Venice.
Near (marked access begins at San Cassiano) Ca ’Pesaro rises, which houses Galleria d'Arte Moderna (wt.-sb. 10.00-16.00, nd. 9.30-12.30; 2000L) i Oriental Museum (wt.-sb. 9.00-14.00, nd. 9.00-13.00; 2000L). Most of the contemporary collections are works of not widely known Italian artists, purchased at the Biennale, while the lacquer products owned by the oriental gallery, armor, Shields, weapons etc.. they will be of interest mainly to specialists.
Campo San Polo and surroundings
The second largest square in Venice is Campo San Polo. In the past, it sometimes served as a bullfighting arena, it hosted a weekly fair and sometimes larger markets. Currently, it functions as a center of social life and a sports stadium for children.
The gloomy interior of the Church of San Polo (pn.-sb. 7.30-12.00 i 16.00-19.00, nd. 8.00-12.15) it is worth seeing mainly because of the Last Supper of Tintoretto and the stations of the Giandomenica Tiepolo Cross, which the artist painted when he was only twenty. The simple piety emanating from these images may induce some tourists to change their minds about Giandomenico, though it seems, that he was interested not so much in the central scenes, how many portraits of members of the local social cream in the background.
Coming out of the square towards Rialto, Calle Madonera is the beginning of a series of busy shopping streets, which are home to some of the best pasticcerias in Venice and many shoe and clothing stores. These streets continue on the other side of the square with Salizzada San Polo and Calle dei Saoneri, which together represent Mercerie's counterpart on this side of the Grand Canal.