Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Other Surprising Discoveries
Museums and artisan studios are not the only places in Venice to explore traditional arts.
Some of the most fascinating and authentic finds appear in unexpected places—on the side
of a church altar, in a street-corner shrine, on a sign in the alleyway. Don't miss these fun
opportunities to immerse yourself in Venetian artisanal history.
Our Lady of the Ferry Station
Ponte della Paglia
San Marco
This sixteenth-century shrine to the Madonna and Child is carved into the side of the Ponte della Paglia. That's
the bridge where tourists stand to take a picture of the more famous Bridge of Sighs near the Piazza San Marco.
Most people miss what lies below them. The shrine to the Madonna and Child is carved in high relief into one
of the spandrels of the bridge so that it is visible to gondoliers as they glide underneath the bridge's arch. Below
the image of the Madonna and Child are two carved gondolas with passenger compartments ( felzi ). This area
was once the spot of one of the city's many traghetti (ferry stations), the Renaissance equivalent of a taxi stand.
Gondola Altar
Church of San Trovaso
Dorsoduro
Inside the Church of San Trovaso stands an altar completed in 1628 and dedicated to the gondola makers'
guild. If you look carefully you will see an image of a gondola, complete with its prow forks ( ferri ) and passenger
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