The districts of Venezia - Tourist information

Cannaregio is Venice's second largest sestiere, stretching across the north-west of the city from the station almost to the Rialto bridge. The name has two possible origins: it may derive from Canal Regio, i.e. the main canal for communicating with the mainland or else it may refer to the extensive reed beds found there in the past. Cannaregio was settled well before AD 1000, when the first dwellings were built on the islands of San Giovanni Crisostomo and Santi Apostoli, close to the Rialto. The areas adjacent to the Grand Canal were built up next. The urban sprawl proceeded northwards, engulfing the convents and monasteries (the Misericordia, the Madonna dell'Orto, the Servi, San'Alvise) on what were, until then, remote islands. On this sestiere, special attention will be paed to number of palaces, dating from Byzantine period to the 18C, that are to be found in this sestiere together with the large 16C quarter of the Ghetto, and the churches and monasteries, which are numerous in this area too. We shall also encounter another of Venice's major town-planning schemes, the Strada Nuova, linking the city centre around Rialto with the railway station.

Apartments for rent in Cannaregio