Venice Neighborhoods: An Introduction

All forms of art have depicted Venice as one of the most romantic locales in the world. Unique for its layered architecture and absence of cars, people are marveled by its labyrinthine calle, streets, just as they are at times easily lost in the middle of the night as they stare into the reflections created by the still canals.

Oddly enough, despite its long history of romance, the majority of visitors spend less than a day in Venice. Many people content themselves with seeing San Marco and Rialto assuming that’s all there is to see in a city that has over 17 centuries of history behind it.

Venice is composed of 117 islands. The main portion of Venice (the part the resembles a fish) is divided into six sections, or sestiere (like quarters for quartiere!). Each sestiere has its own sub-culture and list of things to do. In fact, one can still find differences in accent and dialect when comparing the sestieri.

One thing to mention, Venice has so much more to offer than San Marco and Rialto — two marvelous sights by themselves — but we implore to explore all the city has to offer because our favorite parts of Venice have little to do with either of these and we think you’d agree with us. A general suggestion is to pick up the Chorus Pass, which allows you to explore most of the smaller churches and admire the art inside of them. It’s a great way to explore each sestiere and will also give you refuge from some serious heat during the summer!

In a series of posts, we hope to introduce you to parts of the Venice we know, the parts that have earned Venice nicknames such as the “La Serinissima” (the most serene). We’re going to introduce you to each of the six sestieri of Venice and give you a couple of ideas of where to go, what to do, and what to eat and drink!