Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 041 522 63 67; Campo San Barnaba 2840; 10am-6.30pm Mon-Sat; Ca' Rezzonico) Kids may have
to drag adults away from these 2D wooden puzzles of the Rialto bridge and grinning
wooden duckies before these clever handmade toys induce acute cases of nostalgia.
Calder-esque mobiles made of carved red gondola prows would seem equally at home in
an arty foyer and a nursery.
A HEALTHY STROLL: THE ZATTERE
On sunny days, the leisurely stretch of Dorsoduro's Giudecca Canal waterfront known as the Zattere becomes an
idyllic seaside holiday resort, the perfect spot for a lazy stroll or sunbathing dockside - but a few centuries back,
the Zattere was the absolute last resort for many Venetians. The imposing building at 423 Zattere was once better
known as Ospedale degli Incurabili (Hospital of the Incurables), built in the 16th century to address a problem
spreading rapidly through Europe's nether regions. Euphemistically called the 'French sickness', syphilis quickly
became a Venetian problem, passing from the ranks of its 12,000 registered prostitutes to the general populace.
With no known cure for syphilis at the time, and blindness and insanity its common side effects, Venetians peti-
tioned the state to create a hospice for the afflicted and the orphans they left behind. Venetian women were out-
spoken lobbyists for this forward-thinking effort, and funds were pledged early on by prostitutes and madams
with a particular interest in the problem. Venice was ahead of its time in dedicating public funds to this public
health crisis, though at times even this large building was sometimes overcrowded. When penicillin provided a
cure, the facility was happily rendered obsolete, and since 2003 the building has housed the Accademia delle
Belle Arti (Fine Arts School), formerly located in the Gallerie dell'Accademia building.
Nearby you'll spot a new plaque dedicated to Nobel Prize-winning Russian American poet Joseph Brodsky ,
a sometime local resident who named his 1989 book Fondamenta degli Incurabili after this infamous canalbank.
He is fondly remembered internationally for his book Watermark , which captures Venice's ebbs and flows, its
murky tragedies and crystalline graces. As the plaque says in Russian and Italian: 'He loved and sang this place'.
Brodsky died in New York in 1996, but by his request and the city's exceptional permission, his body was buried
in Venice's cemetery at Isola di San Michele.
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