Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thiscontroversialbridge,designedbySpanisharchitectSantiagoCalatrava,isjustupstream
from the train station. Only the fourth bridge to cross the Grand Canal, it carries foot traffic
betweenthetrainstationandbusterminalatPiazzaleRoma.Afterdelays,costoverruns,and
questions about its stability, the bridge finally opened in 2008.
The bridge draws snorts from Venetians. Its modern design is a sore point for a city with
suchrichmedievalandRenaissancearchitecture.Withanoriginalpricetagof€4million,the
cost rose to around €11 million. Then someone noticed that people in wheelchairs couldn't
cross, so the bridge was retrofitted with a special carriage on a track. And, to add practical
insult to aesthetic injury, critics say the heavy bridge is crushing the centuries-old founda-
tions at either end, threatening nearby buildings.
This “House of Gold” palace, fronting the Grand Canal, is quintessential Venetian Gothic
the permanent collection includes a few big names in Renaissance painting (Ghirlandaio,
Signorelli, and Mantegna), a glimpse at a lush courtyard, and a grand view of the Grand
Canal.
Cost and Hours:
€6, dry audioguide-€4, Mon 8:15-14:00, Tue-Sun 8:15-19:15, free
peek through hole in door of courtyard, at vaporetto: Ca' d'Oro,
www.cadoro.org
.
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Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio
This little-visited “school” (which means “meeting place”) features an exquisite wood-
paneled chapel decorated with the world's best collection of paintings by Vittorio Carpaccio
(1465-1526).
The Scuola, a reminder that cosmopolitan Venice was once Europe's trade hub, was one
of a hundred such community centers for various ethnic, religious, and economic groups,
supportedbythegovernmentpartlytokeepaneyeonforeigners.ItwasherethattheDalma-
tians (from present-day Croatia) worshipped in their own way, held neighborhood meetings,
and preserved their culture.
Cost and Hours:
€4, Mon 14:45-18:00, Tue-Sat 9:15-13:00 & 14:45-18:00, Sun
9:15-13:00, midway between St. Mark's Square and the Arsenale, on Calle dei Furlani at
#3259a, tel. 041-522-8828.
