GRAND CANAL

Description

Essentials about the Grand Canal in brief

It is probably the most famous waterway in the world and is navigated every day by thousands and thousands of tourists by boat and photographed millions of times: The Canal Grande (Grand Canal). As the name suggests, the Grand Canal is by far the most important and busiest waterway in Venice. At just under four kilometers in length, the canal, which is between 30 and 70 meters wide, winds its way through all of Venice in its typical S-shape. On its banks are more than 200 magnificent noble palaces and some of the most beautiful churches in Venice. The four bridges that span the Grand Canal – first and foremost the Rialto Bridge – are also world famous. A boat trip on the Grand Canal, either by water cab vaporetto or by gondola, is an absolute must on a trip to Venice.

The course of the Grand Canal

What few visitors to Venice know is that the Grand Canal is the last stretch of the northern arm of the Brenta River that runs through the Venetian Lagoon. Because of its fluvial character, the water in the Grand Canal is always flowing, unlike the rest of the Venetian canals. Along its approximately four kilometers of length, about 45 smaller canals (Rii) flow into the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal divides the six districts of Venice into three citra (meaning “this side”) districts on the west side (Dorsoduro, Santa Croce and San Polo) and three ultra (meaning “beyond”) districts on the east side (Cannaregio, Castello and San Marco).

The bridges over the Grand Canal

The Grand Canal is spanned by four bridges. The oldest of the river crossings is the world-famous Rialto Bridge, a covered bridge in limestone built in the late 16th century in place of a wooden bridge. Until the construction of the Ponte degli Scalzi and the Ponte dell’Accademia in the 19th century, the Rialto Bridge was the only fixed link across the Grand Canal. Finally, in 2008, the Ponte della Costituzione, designed by Spanish star architect Santiago Calatrava, was inaugurated to provide a better connection between the Santa Lucia train station and the bus station and parking garages at Piazzale Roma.

In addition to the four bridges and the municipal vaporetti (water cabs), gondolas (traghetti) allow crossing the Grand Canal at eight points. By the way, one should refrain from swimming across the canal. It is guaranteed to be punished with a fine.

The palaces on the Grand Canal

The Grand Canal is lined with over 200 magnificent noble palaces. In Venice, the height of the palaces was dictated by numerous regulations of the city republic. In addition, unlike other Italian cities, Venice had a strong community spirit that overrode self-interest. Thus, the palaces along the Grand Canal are relatively uniform in their height and building principle.

After the great Fourth Crusade of 1204, in the course of which the Venetians had taken rich booty, the formerly wooden houses had initially been replaced by stone buildings in the Byzantine style. From the 15th century onwards, they were gradually replaced by magnificent palaces – in Gothic, Renaissance and also Baroque styles.

The distance between the palaces and the Grand Canal was sometimes greater in the early and high Middle Ages. It was not until the 13th century that the buildings, which were built on many small islands, began to be extended towards the canal and the courtyard was moved to the rear. At the same time, the main facade was moved towards the water, which previously faced the land side. Contrary to a widespread opinion, the palaces of the most famous families were not located on the Grand Canal, but on larger and smaller squares or on side canals.

The stones for these palaces were mainly transported from the mainland, especially from Verona (red marble) and from Istria (white calcareous marble). All building materials, including bricks for walls and roofs, as well as vast amounts of wood had to be brought from outside, sometimes over hundreds of kilometers, since Venice had no natural resources.

The palaces, although often very different in size, are all built according to the same construction principle – a dominant central part and wings subordinate to the sides. The façade, opened by large windows, and the preference for light rather than solid construction also results from the necessity of not being able to build houses that were too heavy on unsafe, often sandy ground in the middle of the lagoon’s water. Thus, all of Venice’s buildings are built on a framework of thousands of oak piles driven many meters deep into the subsoil.

The internal arrangement of the rooms can usually be seen on the facade. The lower floor, the water floor, was already open to receive the goods brought by the ships. This entire floor, the piantereno, was also reserved for trade on the courtyard side since the 14th century, that is, the economic and financial basis of most Venetian families that inhabited such palaces. Here, in front of the portal, the boats docked, were loaded and unloaded, and the goods were immediately stored in the adjacent rooms and warehouses. In front of the palaces stand the famous pali, the colorful poles for tying up the boats. With their individual colors, they also designate the respective master of the house.

The second floor, the piano nobile, and often another, was reserved for the family. Here there was the great hall, the portego, which occupied the entire depth of the house in the middle. This central wing was usually surrounded on both sides by smaller rooms. The servants lived at the top of the mezzanine. The kitchens were also mostly under the roofs – for good reason. If there was a fire here, the whole house was not affected. Inner courtyards were almost always missing. Instead, each palace had its own well in the courtyard, which was open to the rear. The less fortunate fetched their water from public cisterns located on the campi. A fountain was installed above each cistern.

The churches on the Grand Canal

The banks of the Grand Canal are also home to one of the most imposing and beautiful churches in Venice, such as San Geremia, San Marcuola, Santa Maria della Salute, Santa Maria di Nazareth, San Samuele, San Simeone Piccolo and San Stae. In the 19th century, the church of Santa Lucia, located at the northwest end of the Grand Canal, was demolished for the construction of the Venice railroad station. Today only the name of the station Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia reminds of the former church.