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power, while the districts around the Arsenale
to the east were home to Venice's most important industries.
This was one of the earliest parts of Venice to be sttled (5th
to 6th centuries).
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| Northern and western Castello |
 The
Bridge of Sighs marks the border between the sestieri of San
marco and Castello, so the quaint Museo Diocesano di Arte
Sacra and stately San Zaccaria although closely associated
with San marco, actually belong to Castello. But the true heart
of northern adn western Castello lies inward from here: campo
Santa Maria Formosa ('Shapely St Mary'), a large, bustling,
irregular-shaped square on the road to just about everywhere.
It has a fine church, a small market,a couple of bars and an
undertaker's. Nearby is the quintessentially Venetian museum-cum-library
of the Querini-Stampalia. Constantly buzzing with both
Venetians and tourists, the square is surrounded by palazzi
that range in style from the very grand to the very homely.It
is, in fact, Castello in miniature.
For grandeur, head north-east from here towards campo Santi
Giovanni e Paolo. This square is second only to Piazza San
Marco in monumental magnificence.
Not to be missed
Monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni
Museo Querini-Stampalia
Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra
San Francesco della Vigna
Santa Maria Formosa
Santi Giovanni e Paolo (San Zanipolo)
San Zaccaria
Scuola Grande di San Marco
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| Southern and
eastern Castello |
If Venice's fair-tale charm is getting too
much, head for eastern Castello. The low-rise, close-clustered
buildings of this working-class area housed the employees of
the Arsenale (Venice's Docklands) most of which now lies
poignantly derelict.
Eastern Castello had its foreing communities, as local churches
testify. There's San Giorgio dei Greci, with its adjoining
museum of icons, and Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni,
with its captivating cycle of paintings by Vittorio Carpaccio.
Indeed, the great promenade along the lagoon (the Riva degli
Schiavoni) was named after the same community.
Inland from the Riva is the quaint Gothic church of San Giovanni
in Bragora and, further back in the warren of streets, the
curch of Sant'Antonin.
Back on the Riva degli Schiavoni is the church of La Pietà,
where Vivaldi was choir master; it is now frequently used for
concerts.
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| Paola -
Guide editor |
 Campo
della Tana. In this Campo there was the entrance to extensive
premises belonging to the Arsenale, in which rope was made.
The hemp for the robes came from the Russian city of Tanai,
from which the name 'Tana' is taken.
Ponte
dell'Arsenale or Ponte del Paradiso. This probably relates
to Dante's visit to the Arsenal. Next door, we in fact find
'ponte dell'Inferno' and 'ponte del Purgatorio', which refer
to three books of the Divine Comedy ('Inferno', 'Purgatorio'
and 'Paradiso').
Fondamenta
dei Felzi. It was here that 'felzi' or cabins of the gondolas
were made.
Calle
de la Cavallerizza. "Cavallerizza dei Nobili"
was the name of stable that existed from the seventeenth century
until the end of the Venetian Republic. |
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Castello is Venice's largest sestiere, extending from the
Rialto to Sant'Elena at eastern trip of the city. Its name is believed
to derive from a fortress on the island of San Pietro, one of the
earliest inhabited sites in the lagoon. A sestiere of two very different
halves, Castello's grander northern and western area, around Santi
Giovanni e Paolo and San Zaccaria, was closely linked with the centres
of 
