“Detourism: Venice newsletter” is the newsletter prepared by the Tourism Office of the Town of Venice which is sent free of charge to hundreds of subscribers every week, providing valuable food for thought and insights on the history, art and culture of Venice.
We are proud to publish some selected contents of such newsletter (see previous post: “Detourism for the Up and Down the Bridges“). On our website, in several episodes, we will only present some samples (see all posts in our archive page “Detourism Newsletter“), but the invitation addressed to all the friends of the Up and Down the Bridges is to fill in the online form proposed by the Town of Venice to receive it directly in their email box every week.
Special thanks to the Councillor for Tourism for having enthusiastically welcomed this new important collaboration between TGS Eurogroup and the Tourism Office of the Town of Venice and for giving us the precious opportunity to publish on the pages of this blog some extracts from this newsletter, both in Italian and in English.
As previously announced, (see post “Detourism: Venice’s neighbourhood”), today we start discovering all Venetian neighbourhood, one by one! Following San Marco. it’s now time to move on to Castello district. Enjoy the reading!

Castello, the largest district in Venice, is considered one of the liveliest and most authentic areas of the city.

Here, you have the chance to see daily life in Venice as well as discover a number of hidden art treasures: just to name a few, the sixteenth-century palace where the Querini Stampalia family lived, which is now a museum where you can learn about the life and tastes of the Venetian aristocracy; or, Palazzo Grimani, which already in the sixteenth century was a house-museum famous throughout Europe for its marbles, stuccos and frescoes but above all for its collection of antiquities (explore it with a virtual tour). Or else, the church where Antonio Vivaldi was baptized, San Giovanni in Bragora, which houses an altarpiece by Giambattista Cima Da Conegliano, and the Hellenic Museum of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, unique in Europe.

The very heart of Castello is the island of San Pietro di Castello, one of the first urban nuclei of Venice and the first religious, political and commercial centre of the city. The Basilica of San Pietro di Castello had been Venice’s cathedral and the seat of the Patriarch of Venice until 1807, when the title was transferred by Napoleon to San Marco.

The campo in front of the basilica gives us an idea of what campi looked like in ancient times: it is one of the last covered with grass.

One of the best starting points for a walk in Castello is the Arsenale, which has been the largest naval factory in the world for centuries. A few steps from the Arsenale, there is the Naval History Museum (explore it with a virtual tour), which houses ancient models of Venetian ships, including the last Bucintoro, the Doge’s ceremonial ship.

Castello is also one of the greenest areas of Venice: you can explore the Napoleonic Gardens, the largest green area in the city centre (about two-thirds occupied by the Biennale), and the Sant’Elena Pinewood.

You can also take a walk along Riva degli Schiavoni, the principal promenade of Castello, overlooking the San Marco basin.

Discover all walking tours in Castello on the “Venezia Unica” web site!

[source: La newsletter di Venezia, N° 22/2020 del 21.06.2020]
[picture by Didier Descouens / Wikimedia Commons]

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