Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
spare for a baroque edifice, Giambattista Tiepolo's
The Martyrdom of St Bartholomew
and
Sebastiano Ricci's
The Liberation of St Peter
are grace notes.
THE OTHER RIALTO MARKET: PONTE DELLE TETTE
since the 15th century as 'Tits Bridge'. Back in those days, shadowy porticos around this bridge sheltered a desig-
nated red-light zone where neighbourhood prostitutes were encouraged to display their wares in windows instead
of taking their marketing campaigns to the streets in their platform shoes. Between clients, the most ambitious
working girls might be found studying: for educated conversation,
cortigiane
(courtesans) might charge 60 times
the going rates for basic services from average prostitutes.
Church authorities and French dignitaries repeatedly professed dismay at Venice's lax attitudes towards prosti-
tution, but Venice's idea of a crackdown was to prevent women prostitutes from luring clients by cross-dressing
(aka false advertising) and to ban prostitutes from riding in two-oared boats - lucky that gondolas only require
one oar. Fees were set by the state and posted in Rialto brothels (soap cost extra), and the rates of high-end
corti-
giane
were published in catalogues extolling their various merits. The height of platform shoes was limited to a
staggering 30cm by sumptuary laws intended to distinguish socialites from
cortigiane
, with little success.
CHIESA DI SAN ROCCO
( 041 523 48 64; Campo San Rocco 3053, San Polo; 8am-12.30pm & 3-5.30pm Mon-Sat; San Tomà)
F
Originally built by Bartolomeo Bon in 1489-1508, this church got a baroque facelift in
1765-71 with a grand portal flanked by Giovanni Marchiori statues. Bon's rose window
was moved to the side of the church, near Bon's original side door. Inside the church's
Sala dell'Albergo are a couple of comparatively quiet Tintorettos, including
San Rocco
Healing the Animals
.
CHURCH
CASA DI GOLDONI
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 041 275 93 25;
www.visitmuve.it
;
Calle dei Nomboli 2794, San Polo; adult/reduced €5/3.50, or with Museum
Pass; 10am-5pm Thu-Tue Apr-Oct, to 4pm Nov-Mar; San Tomà)
Venetian playwright Carlo Gol-
doni (1707-93) mastered second and third acts: he was a doctor's apprentice before
switching to law, which proved handy when an
opera buffa
(comic opera) didn't sell. But
as the 1st-floor display at his birthplace explains (in Italian), Goldoni had the last laugh
with his social satires. Highlights include an
18th-century puppet theatre
and occasional
perform-
ances
on site.
