Venice - Italy - page 317

exhibitions of provocative contemporary art. Look also for weekend recitals of
music of the Renaissance and baroque periods held at the Foundation; your cheap
concert ticket includes entry to the museum.
ATTRACTIONS IN SAN POLO & SANTA CROCE:
THE RIALTO & BEYOND
Legend has it that the Rialto is where the very idea of Venice began; it was on this
high bank (rivo alto) that some of the first settlers sought a new life. Today, the
Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge), which delivers tourists and locals to the famous
markets of the Rialto, is geographically more or less in the very center of the city.
Linking the sestieri (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it's one of only three
bridges spanning the Grand Canal. Lined with shops and practically always
flooded with tourists, the existing bridge was constructed of stone after the orig-
inal wooden bridge collapsed a number of times.
The Rialto Markets have stood at Venice's economic center for nearly 1,000
years, and they remain an interesting early-morning outing for those interested in
watching fish being sold, or in buying fruit and vegetables for themselves. The fish
market is open only in the morning; and when the crowds arrive and head for the
souvenir stands, being here can become a hectic experience. While in the vicinity,
you may want to pop into San Giacomo di Rialto (Campo San Giacomo; % 041-
5224745; Mon-Sat 9:30am-noon and 4-6pm), the city's oldest church, founded
on March 25, A . D . 421—the same day as Venice itself.
As you head north out of the Rialto market area through San Polo toward
Santa Croce, you'll see San Cassiano church (Campo San Cassiano; % 041-721408;
Mon-Sat 9:45-11:30am and 4:30-7pm), unimpressive from the outside, but (if it's
open) really worth poking your head inside, specifically to take a look at Tintoretto's
magnificent rendition of The Crucifixion. Campo San Cassiano was once the cen-
ter of Venice's red-light district, and many of the buildings around this part of the
Rialto area were once brothels; women-for-hire would lean from windows and
beckon lasciviously to potential clients passing below. The nearby Ponte delle
Tette is infamously named after that display.
There's no real way of telling where San Polo ends and Santa Croce begins, but
there are two attractions in the latter area that will appeal to the museum-goer.
Galleria d'Arte Moderna

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, which is housed in the Ca' Pésaro (Fondamenta
Ca' Pesaro, Santa Croce 2070; % 041-5241173; € 5.50; Apr-Oct Tues-Sun 10am-
6pm; Nov-Mar Tues-Sun 10am-5pm), includes a selection of modern and contem-
porary art principally by relatively unknown Italians. I have found the selection
to be rather interesting, a handsome overview of the range of developments in
Italian painting and sculpture in the modern age; you'll certainly get some insight
into the often ambiguous playfulness of the Italian Modernists. As you enter the
museum, for example, take a look at Giacomo Manzù's Cardinal, sculpted in
1955 and notice how his cloak obscures our ability to decide whether he's seated
or toppling over.
What many visitors to Venice don't know is that the gallery also presents works
by international masters, including unheralded works from the likes of Klimt,
Kandinsky, Klee, Mirò, Yves Tanguy, Henry Moore, Matisse, Jean Arp, Marc
Chagall, and Max Ernst. But it's a better place to learn more about the lesser