San Polo Neighborhood Walk

The Church of San Giacomo di Rialto is easily identified by the massive, twenty-four-hour clock face mounted directly above its main entrance. Locals often call it San Giacometto, a nickname reflecting its small size compared to the…

The Rialto Market is defined by the Pescheria, a neo-Gothic building featuring large, open ogival arches that sit directly along the edge of the Grand Canal. Its origins trace back to the eleventh century, when the area was established on…

Campo San Cassiano is defined by its massive, box-like church, which sits with an austere, gray plaster exterior that lacks the traditional decorative facade found on many other Venetian buildings. While the exterior appears plain, the…

Campo San Polo is the second-largest square in Venice, recognizable by its wide, open expanse and the stone wellhead that sits near its center. Unlike the cramped, narrow alleys that define much of the surrounding city, this space offers a…

Campo San Tomà is a quiet, stone-paved square in the heart of the San Polo district, defined by a central wellhead and the classicizing facade of the Church of San Tomà. While many squares in Venice once served as livestock markets or…

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is a colossal brick church in the San Polo district, defined by its austere, high-gabled exterior and one of the tallest bell towers in Venice. It was built by the Franciscan order, beginning…

The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is defined by its massive, two-story facade and its status as the only one of the great Venetian confraternities to survive the fall of the Republic. Established in fourteen seventy-eight, this lay…