Grand Canal (Venice)
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Canal Grande | |
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Canal | |
The Grand Canal looking south from Rialto Bridge | |
Location | Venice, Italy |
Click the map for an interactive, fullscreen view. |
The Grand Canal (Italian: Canal Grande [kaˌnal ˈɡrande]; Venetian: Canałaso rarely Canal Grando) is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.
One end of the canal leads into the
Description
The banks of the Grand Canal are lined with more than 170 buildings, most of which date from the 13th to the 18th century, and demonstrate the welfare and art created by the
Because most of the city's traffic goes along the Canal rather than across it, only one bridge crossed the canal until the 19th century, the Rialto Bridge. There are currently three more bridges, the Ponte degli Scalzi, the Ponte dell'Accademia, and the controversial Ponte della Costituzione from 2008, designed by Santiago Calatrava, connecting the train station to Piazzale Roma, one of the few places in Venice where buses and cars can enter. As was usual in the past, people can still take a ferry ride across the canal at several points by standing up on the deck of a simple gondola called a traghetto, although this service is less common than even a decade ago.[when?]
Most of the palaces emerge from water without pavement. Consequently, one can only tour past the fronts of the buildings on the grand canal by boat.
History
The first settlements
The Grand Canal probably follows the course of an ancient river (possibly a branch of the
Increasing trade followed the doge and found in the deep Grand Canal a safe and ship accessible canal-port. Drainage reveals that the city became more compact over time: at that time the Canal was wider and flowed between small, tide-subjected islands connected by wooden bridges.
"Fondaco" houses
Along the Canal, the number of "fondaco" houses increased, buildings combining the warehouse and the merchant's residence.
A
The fondaco house often had lateral defensive towers (torreselle), as in the Fondaco dei Turchi (13th century, heavily restored in the 19th). With the German warehouse, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (which is also situated on the Grand Canal), it reflects the high number of foreign merchants working in Venice, where the republic supplied them with storerooms and lodging and simultaneously controlled their trading activity.
More public buildings were built along the Canal at
The Venetian-Byzantine style
From the Byzantine empire, goods arrived together with sculptures,
Along the Grand Canal, these elements are well preserved in Ca' Farsetti, Ca' Loredan (both municipal seats) and Ca' da Mosto, all dating back to the 12th or 13th century. During this period Rialto had an intense building development, determining the conformation of the Canal and surrounding areas. As a matter of fact, in Venice building materials are precious and foundations are usually kept: in the subsequent restorations, existing elements will be used again, mixing the Venetian-Byzantine and the new styles (Ca' Sagredo, Palazzo Bembo). Polychromy, three-partitioned façades, loggias, diffuse openings, and rooms disposition formed a particular architectural taste that continued in the future.
The
Venetian Gothic
The open marble fascias, often called "
Renaissance
By the start of the 15th century, Renaissance architecture motifs appear in such buildings as the Palazzo Dario and the Palazzo Corner Spinelli; the latter was designed by Mauro Codussi, pioneer of this style in Venice. Ca' Vendramin Calergi, another of his projects (now hosting the Casino), reveals a completed transition: the numerous and large windows with open marbles are round-arched and have columns in the three classical orders.
Venetian Baroque
In 1582,
The major Baroque architect in Venice was
Longhena later designed two majestic palaces,
Longhena's themes recur in the two older façades of
The 16th and 17th centuries mark the beginning of the Republic's decline, but nevertheless, they saw the highest building activity on the Grand Canal. This can be partially explained by the increasing number of families (like the Labia) becoming patrician by the payment of an enormous sum to the Republic, which was then facing financial difficulties. Once these families had achieved this new status, they built themselves with impressive residences on the Canal, often inducing other families to renew theirs.
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architectures along the Canal date to the 18th century: during the first half was built
Modern era
After the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, much of the palatial construction in Venice was suspended, as symbolized by the unfinished San Marcuola and Palazzo Venier dei Leoni (housing the Peggy Guggenheim Collection). The Patrician families, bereft of their hereditary role in governance and sometimes persecuted by revolutionary forces, sought other residences. Several historical palaces were pulled down, but many found other uses, and some restorations have saved their 18th-century appearance. By the late 20th century, most of the more prominent palaces were owned by the city, state, or civic institutions.
During the era of the
The
Events
Historical Regatta
On the first Sunday of September the
The Feast-day of the Madonna della Salute
On November 21, Venetians thank the
Gallery
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Two gondoliers pull out with clients on board from a row of gondolas on the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge
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The Grand Canal from Ponte dell'Accademia; in the foreground Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti, in the distance Santa Maria della Salute
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The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, shot at night from Rialto Bridge
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The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
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Ocean ship entering Grand Canal
See also
- List of buildings and structures in Venice
- Republic of Venice
- Grand Canal (Venice) architecture for listing and identification of buildings along the canal
References
- ^ a b Imagiamedia.ca. "Venetian Palaces of the Grand Canal - Panoram Italia". www.panoramitalia.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Venice and its lagoons :: Gothic style". www.venicethefuture.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Regata Storica is The Spectacle to See". Ikon London Magazine. 10 September 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ Flamming-Lab. "Regata Storica di Venezia - Official Website". www.regatastoricavenezia.it. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Festa Della Salute celebrates Feast of our Lady of Health". veniceXplorer. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
Sources
- A. Zorzi, P. Marton I Palazzi Veneziani – Magnus Ed., Udine 1989; ISBN 88-7057-083-5
- M. Brusegan La grande guida dei monumenti di Venezia - Newton & Compton Ed., Roma 2005; ISBN 88-541-0475-2.
- E. e W. Eleodori Il Canal Grande. Palazzi no' – Corbo e Fiore Editori, II ed., Venezia 2007; ISBN 88-7086-057-4.
- Guida d'Italia – Venezia. 3a ed. Milano, Touring Editore, 2007. ISBN 978-88-365-4347-2.
- Alvise Zorzi, P. Marton. I Palazzi Veneziani. Udine, Magnus, 1989. ISBN 88-7057-083-5.
- Venezia e provincia. Milano, Touring Editore, 2004. ISBN 88-365-2918-6.
- Raffaella Russo. Palazzi di Venezia. Venezia, Arsenale Ed., 1998. ISBN 88-7743-185-7.
- Umberto Franzoi, Mark Smith. Canal Grande. Venezia, Arsenale Ed., 1993. ISBN 88-7743-131-8.
- Giuseppe Mazzariol (a cura di). I Palazzi del Canal Grande. Novara, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, 1989.
- Gianjacopo Fontana. Venezia monumentale - I Palazzi. Venezia, Filippi Ed., 1967.
- Andrea Fasolo, Mark Smith. Palazzi di Venezia. Venezia, Arsenale Ed., 2003. ISBN 88-7743-295-0.
- The Art and Architecture of Venice
- Terisio Pignatti (a cura di). Le scuole di Venezia. Milano, Electa, 1981.
- Silvia Gramigna, Annalisa Perissa. Scuole di Arti, Mestieri e Devozione a Venezia. Venezia, Arsenale Coop
- Giuseppe Tassini. Curiosità Veneziane. Venezia, Filippi Ed., 2001.
External links
Preceded by Gallerie dell'Accademia |
Venice landmarks Grand Canal |
Succeeded by Piazza San Marco |