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Cannaregio

Sestiere Cannaregio

Cannaregio is a district of Venice. It is believed that the name derives from the vast cane fields present when the area was still uninhabited. It occupies almost the entire north of the city, it is the most populated and largest after Castello. It extends from the train station to Castello, with which it borders almost entirely to the east and south. It is connected to Santa Croce through the Scalzi Bridge and the Ponte della Costituzione.

The main waterway is the Canal di Cannaregio, which connects the Grand Canal with the lagoon. It is the only internal canal in the historic center, in addition to the Grand Canal, along which the vaporetti circulate. The Cannaregio canal is crossed by two bridges: the Ponte delle Guglie (named after the four needles present at the four corners) and the Ponte dei Tre Archi (the only three-arch bridge left in Venice).

In the 19th century, during Austrian domination, the first land connection between Venice and the mainland was built in this district through the Ponte della Libertà. Venice stopped being an island. The construction of the Santa Lucía station continued as the arrival point of the railway bridge. As a result of this, in 1858 the third bridge over the Grand Canal, the Ponte degli Scalzi, was built.

In this district is the Venice Ghetto. Five historic synagogues are still preserved in the Jewish Quarter, some of which are open to the public with joint visits to the Jewish Museum.

The main artery of the entire district is the wide road that goes from the station to Santa Lucia to Rialto. It is known as Strada Nova, and begins at the church of Santa Maria degli Scalzi and ends at Campo Santi Apostoli.

At the northern end of Cannaregio, the churches of Sant'Alvise and the Madonna dell'Orto stand out. To the south of the sestiere, the Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli, the Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli di Cristo, the Jesuit church and the chiesa dell'Abbazia della Misericordia.

Attractions in Cannaregio area, Venice