Sestriere Dorsoduro
Venice is famous all over the world and visited every day by many thousands of tourists. The large number of visitors causes a continuous crowd around the district of San Marco, where the Basilica and the main bridge of the city are. But you don’t have to go far from San Marco to find quieter streets.
A hop over the Grand Canal, via the Accademia bridge, is placed Dorsoduro, the district with a spectacular skyline crowned by the magnificent dome of Santa Maria Della Salute and the panoramic Punta della Dogana. The area is crisscrossed by small and picturesque canals, narrow alleyways and squares where the typical small houses and walled gardens stand close to more majestic buildings.
Dorsoduro, is the real Venice, a place where Venetians still live, a breath of fresh air after the crowd of tourists in the San Marco area. Area of many great museums, galleries and churches , the district has a vibrant artistic and cultural life. Artists, poets, musicians and art connoisseurs as Peggy Guggenheim, Henry de Régnier, Ezra Pound, John Ruskin, Ettore Tito and Robert Browning had lived in this stretch of land between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca canal.
The so called Dorsoduro Museum Mile, is a cultural itinerary between Gallerie dell’Accademia, Ca’ Rezzonico, Galleria di Palazzo Cini, Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Punta della Dogana (Pinault – Contemporary Art Center).
The district’s hub is Campo Santa Margherita, a long square with restaurants, cafes, ice cream shops, wine shops, antique stalls, supermarket and small fish market. During the evening this area becomes one of Venice’s liveliest nightspot, the bars are open until midnight or later, pleasantly abuzz with people enjoying a glass of wine or a spritz catching up with friends in a youthful and relaxed mood.
The city’s oldest squero, a boatyard for building gondolas, date back to the 17th century is around the corner of two canals, San Trovaso and Ognissanti.