It’s not that easy to escape the hoards in Venice. Popular areas, such the Rialto, Piazza San Marco, the Arsenal and around the Academia are pretty much perpetually thronged, at least during the daylight hours. But there is one haven of peace that’s not too far away.
The skinny, worm-shaped island of Giudecca is only a short vaporetto ride from San Marco (the nucleus of Venice) but world’s away in atmosphere. It was traditionally Venice’s ‘industrial belt’, if you can call artisan fishing and boat making ‘industrial’. Other factories,
such as those that belonged to the prestigious watch firm Junghans and Fortuny, the luxury fabric manufacturer have long since gone and the northern side of the island is peppered with more abandoned warehouses and workshops.
The southern side, where the riches of San Marco glisten in the distance, is a little better kept, especially around the enclosed, manicured grounds of the famous hotel the Cipriani. The other two note-worthy sites on Giudecca are the Zitelle and the Redentore, two churches built by Palladio.
But I wouldn’t recommend that you come across to the island for these alone. If, like me, you like to see the more work-a-day side of any city then I would suggest that you take an hour or so simply walking around the island, perhaps stopping to have a drink or coffee in one of its working-class hosterias along the fondmenta. You won’t see any grand palazzi or churches (bar the ones I have just mentioned) but instead local Venetians go about their business in non-alarming streets. For me, this takes the myth out of Venice, and makes it all the more endearing.
The skinny, worm-shaped island of Giudecca is only a short vaporetto ride from San Marco (the nucleus of Venice) but world’s away in atmosphere. It was traditionally Venice’s ‘industrial belt’, if you can call artisan fishing and boat making ‘industrial’. Other factories,
such as those that belonged to the prestigious watch firm Junghans and Fortuny, the luxury fabric manufacturer have long since gone and the northern side of the island is peppered with more abandoned warehouses and workshops.The southern side, where the riches of San Marco glisten in the distance, is a little better kept, especially around the enclosed, manicured grounds of the famous hotel the Cipriani. The other two note-worthy sites on Giudecca are the Zitelle and the Redentore, two churches built by Palladio.
But I wouldn’t recommend that you come across to the island for these alone. If, like me, you like to see the more work-a-day side of any city then I would suggest that you take an hour or so simply walking around the island, perhaps stopping to have a drink or coffee in one of its working-class hosterias along the fondmenta. You won’t see any grand palazzi or churches (bar the ones I have just mentioned) but instead local Venetians go about their business in non-alarming streets. For me, this takes the myth out of Venice, and makes it all the more endearing.
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