Castello’s Hidden Corners: A Walk around a Vibrant Venice Neighborhood

(9 reviews)

Venice audio tour: Castello’s Hidden Corners: A Walk around a Vibrant Venice Neighborhood

This is a 1.6mi walking tour

It takes an average of 75 mins to complete.

Venice

Italy

$8.99

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About the Tour

Venice isn’t just made of canals – it’s made of secrets. Many are easy to discover if you know where to look. On this walking tour through Castello’s back streets, you’ll discover a part of the city that flourished for more than 1,000 years, thanks to its naval, military, artistic, and commercial genius. Even Venetians sometimes stop in this neighbourhood and say, “I never noticed that before!”

The tour begins in front of Museo Storico Navale di Venezia (the Naval Museum) in this neighborhood flanking the Arsenal, where thousands of craftsmen built the ships that made Venice rich, powerful, and feared. This part of the city was very working class, and as you walk, I’ll point out memorials to famous explorers, the spoils from foreign conquests, curious inscriptions, and other traces of the city’s seafaring heritage.

You’ll pass through little pockets of daily life, from the quaint Campo do Pozzi square, to Liceo Scientifico, a bustling high school in a converted church. You’ll stroll around Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo church before finishing the tour in front of a 17th-century boatyard that faces Chiesa di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti (the Church of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti).

On this 75-minute Venice walking tour, you’ll have the chance to:

Meet Bartolomeo Colleoni, whose bronze equestrian statue trumpets his prowess as Venice’s greatest mercenary captain
Relax in the tranquil cloister of San Francesco della Vigna, a charming Catholic church designed by architect Andrea Palladio who famously made churches look like ancient Greek or Roman temples
Discover the carved memorial to Saint Barbara and the guild of bombardiers who made iron cannons
Spot centuries-old plaques that recall disastrous plagues, which were an inevitable risk in a crowded seaport city with over 100,000 inhabitants
Stop by Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, the church where a runaway elephant sought refuge
Decipher the runes chiseled into Piraeus Lion, the marble lion that guards the Campo de l’Arsenal (Arsenal Square)
Learn about the historical threat of catastrophic fires in Venice, despite the city being surrounded by water, and find out how Venetians managed their freshwater supply

By the end of this tour, you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the ingenuity behind Venetian life – in the past as well as today – in a part of the city that’s far from the crowds of Piazza San Marco.

Tour Producer

Erla Zwingle

4 tours

I am an American freelance journalist and have been living in Venice since 1994, married to a wonderful Venetian man. He taught me how to row in the Venetian way (like the gondoliers, standing up facing forward) and we go out in our own little typical Venetian boat all year long. I've also learned to shop according to the seasons and to prepare many traditional Venetian dishes, some of which have disappeared from day-to-day life. I speak the local dialect, and love to read Venetian history of all topics and centuries. I have written about exceptional Venetian artisans (masks, lace, gondolas, shoes, hand-beaten gold leaf) for Craftsmanship online magazine. I wrote the National Geographic guidebook to Venice, and since 2009 have been writing a blog about real life in an unreal city. I belong to an association called Arzana' dedicated to the conservation of traditional Venetian boats; it's not all serious work -- we and our boats often get called on as extras in films shot in Venice. I have occasionally collaborated as local fixer and interpreter for several documentaries about the city. Venice is complicated, demanding, inconvenient, but also fascinating, surprising, and never dull. Sometimes people ask me why I live here. I don't understand why everybody doesn't live here.

Preview Location

Location 34

Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni & Basilica of SS. Giovanni e Paolo

Walk slowly around the statue while I tell you about it. If the weather is nice, this might be a good place to sit at one of the cafe's on the campo and have a coffee or gelato after the tour.

First, the statue itself. It was cast by Andrea Verrocchio, a sculptor from Flo... Walk slowly around the statue while I tell you about it. If the weather is nice, this might be a good place to sit at one of the cafe's on the campo and have a coffee or gelato after the tour.

First, the statue itself. It was cast by Andrea Verrocchio, a sculptor from Florence, starting in 1480. It took eight years to finish. It is considered one of the greatest bronze equestrian statues of the Renaissance. It isn't a real portrait of the man, but intended to represent his strength and power.

Fun fact: Not far away is a courtyard called the "Corte del Cavallo," courtyard of the horse. Not for a real horse -- it's where this horse was cast.

Now, about the man. He was Bartolomeo Colleoni, a mercenary captain in the early 1400's who was lavishly paid by Venice to win its battles. He was one of the greatest of his time, and was not only very rich, but very proud. He left money in his will to pay for a statue of his glorious self. And most important, he stipulated it should be placed "at San Marco." Obviously he meant the Piazza San Marco.

But he wasn't Venetian (he was from Bergamo), so he didn't realize that the Venetian mindset was against glorifying the individual. Whatever you did was for the glory of Venice, not the glory of you. You may have noticed that there is no statue of anyone in the Piazza San Marco.

So why is it here? Well, the lovely cream-colored marble building on the other side of the campo was the scuola, or confraternity, of San Marco. It was one of the most important in the city, being dedicated to the patron saint. So after Colleoni died, the cagey Venetians put his statue here. I can imagine them all in heaven together, saying to Colleoni "What? You meant...the PIAZZA San Marco? Good heavens, what a terrible misunderstanding! Oh well......".

When you are ready, walk past the statue and stop in front of the church.

[3 second pause]

This is the church of Saints Giovanni and Paolo (John and Paul). These are not the famous saints from the Bible, by the way; they are two Christian martyrs from Rome who died in the fourth century AD. Interestingly, though, they were important saints to pray to for protection from storms and other dangerous weather.

The building was begun in 1246, and finally consecrated in 1430. It is often called the "Pantheon" of Venice, because it contains the tombs of 27 doges. It also contains the tomb, high up on the right wall near the entrance, of Marcantonio Bragadin. We saw his imposing profile in the big carving over the doorway of the house where Casanova lived.

In 1570 the Ottoman Turks besieged the island of Cyprus, which belonged to Venice. The last city to hold out was Famagusta, and Bragadin was the commander of the resisting forces. After months of struggle he was tricked into agreeing to surrender, and the enemy tortured and executed him. A very famous Venetian story. Jump ahead 30 seconds or so if you want to skip the details. Briefly, he was tortured in various ways and then skinned alive in the public square. His skin was folded up and sent to the Sultan; eventually a Venetian managed to retrieve it, and it has been confirmed as being placed inside his tomb.

Ok, when you're ready to go again, with church entrance behind you, walk toward the bridge in front of you and turn right onto the fondamenta that borders the canal. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Ponte de la Veneta Marina
Museo Storico Navale di Venezia
Ramo Secondo della Pegola
ARSENALE DI VENEZIA
Piraeus Lion
Church of San Martino
Campo de le Gorne
Campo Do Pozzi
Salizada S. Antonin
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni
Calle dei Bombardieri
Palazzo Contarini della Porta di Ferro
San Francesco della Vigna
Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Derelitti
Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni
Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Chiesa di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Riva S. Biasio, 2131, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy
Total distance

3km
Final location
Castello, 30100 Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy
Distance back to start location

1km

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts in the open square in front of the Museo Storico Navale and church of San Biasio.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

The church of San Francesco de la Vigna contains several lovely works of art and isn't crowded. The basilica of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, impressive in itself, is nicknamed the pantheon of Venice for the tombs of 27 doges. There is a small fee to pay at the entrance. The cafes in the campo itself are excellent spots to rest and recharge. If you were to feel like taking a gondola ride (best in the early evening in the summer -- less traffic and cooler temperatures), there is a gondola station in the canal by the campo.

Best time of day

The tour can be done all year, and has the advantage of being outside the most-crowded areas. In the summer, the heat will mean that early morning or evening will be more pleasant. In the winter, a later start may be more appealing.

Precautions

Pickpockets are everywhere, disguised as tourists; in high season there can be 200 cases in a day. Streets are narrow, vaporettos are crowded, everybody is distracted and taking photos and enjoying this amazing city. So organize your valuables accordingly. Do not carry much cash (most places accept credit card payments now, even for smaller purchases), and do not carry all your documents in the same place. The public water fountains are perfectly safe, so fill up your bottles whenever you can. In the summer wear sunscreen and do what Venetian women do and carry a fan! The infrequent public toilets are well-kept but keep strange hours, so don't count on them; almost every bar/cafe will let you use theirs if you buy at least a coffee. Avoid the many Euronet cash machines, which are convenient but are famous for their extreme surcharges and fees.

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