Campo Santa Sofia and the Traghetto to the Pescaria
Why is it significant?
Walk to the end of the campo, to the wooden landing at the water's edge, and look across the Grand Canal. Facing you on the other bank are the Gothic arches of the Pescaria and the stalls where this walk began. Between the two banks a gondola waits, rowed by two gondoliers: the traghetto.
Key Facts
| Place | Campo Santa Sofia and the Traghetto to the Pescaria |
|---|---|
| Address | Campo Santa Sofia, Cannaregio, 30121 Venezia VE, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 45.44060, 12.33470 |
| Part of Walk | Fish, Wine and Cicchetti: Venice's Rialto Markets and the Bacari of San Polo |
| Generated | Generated |
Walk to the end of the campo, to the wooden landing at the water's edge, and look across the Grand Canal. Facing you on the other bank are the Gothic arches of the Pescaria and the stalls where this walk began. Between the two banks a gondola waits, rowed by two gondoliers: the traghetto.
The traghetto is a gondola ferry, and for centuries it was how Venetians crossed the Grand Canal, which until the 1850s had only one bridge, the Rialto. There were once dozens of traghetto crossings; today only a handful survive. The custom is to stand for the short ride, a small balancing act that tells everyone you are a local, or trying very hard to look like one.
The Strada Nova you have just walked was cut through the old houses around 1870, after Venice joined Italy, to give the city a straight route from the station to the Rialto. And in the bars on this side of the canal you will find the last Venetian institution of the walk: the tramezzino, a soft triangle of white bread stuffed so generously that it bulges. The word is usually credited to the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, who wanted an Italian name instead of sandwich; Venice took the idea and made it fat.
In one walk you have tasted, at least in your imagination, the whole history of this city: Arctic stockfish from a shipwreck, spices from the Ottoman merchants, sugar from Cyprus, maize from the Americas, a splash of water from the Austrians. Venetian food is a map of where Venetian ships went... a trading empire you can eat.
If the traghetto is running, cross standing up, the way Venetians have for centuries, and land at the Pescaria where the morning began. If not, the Strada Nova will lead you back toward the Rialto in a few minutes. Either way, end the walk the Venetian way: one more ombra, one more cicchetto, standing at a counter. Cin cin.