The Cannaregio district is the largest in Venice and also the most populated. It is crossed by the Cannaregio Canal, the only one in the historic center which, together with the Grand Canal, is crossed by water buses.
The name of the district is presumed to derive either from the presence in the past of vast reeds (land cultivated with common cane) before the area was reclaimed and then inhabited, or from the name of the canal that crossed it, namely Canal Regio, which joins the lagoon to the Grand Canal.
The Cannaregio district can be reached via the vaporetto lines 4.1 and 5.1 or with line 1, all lines that cross the Grand Canal and the Cannaregio Canal.
It is probably easier to get there on foot from Venice Santa Lucia Station as it takes about ten minutes. You have to leave the station behind you and head to the left taking the Fondamenta degli Scalzi and then along the Rio Terà Lista di Spagna. You will find yourself in the middle of the Cannaregio district.
WHAT CAN WE FIND IN THE CANNAREGIO DISTRICT?
In Cannaregio we find the Venice Santa Lucia Station and the main street, called Strada Nova, which connects the station to the Rialto area. There is also the Jewish Ghetto, an area where the Jewish community was obliged to live in the Napoleonic era.
The main shopping streets are Strada Nova and Lista di Spagna, but also frequented by young people for bars or as meeting places.
Do not miss the area of clubs and restaurants in Cannaregio which is located in the northern part of the sestiere, more precisely between the Jewish Ghetto and the Fondamenta Nuove. To date, the sestiere fully represents one of the places of entertainment in Venice.
Curiosities About The Cannaregio District
In the Cannaregio district there is the narrowest street in all of Venice, Calletta Varisco, whose width is only 53 centimeters. Try to follow it, it is very suggestive, obviously if you do not suffer from claustrophobia!
In front of the Church of the Madonna dell’Orto stands Palazzo Mastelli. Legend has it that three brothers lived there, known as merchants of fabrics and spices. One day the three brothers defrauded a lady who in revenge placed a curse on them. So it was the three brothers were transformed into stone statues, visible today on the facade of the building and in the nearby Campo dei Mori.