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Venice's smaller canals

Page 5 of 6
From: Canals of Venice

ABOVE: A Venetian rows his traditional work boat in a side canal.

Most of Venice's 150 canals are neighborhood canals or "side canals." Some of these are wide enough for water taxis, while others are limited to gondolas and other private boats.

In Venice, the typical small to medium-size canal is called a "rio" (plural: "rii"). As you cross footbridges on Venice, look for markers on buildings with canal names such as "Rio Marin" or "Rio del Palazzo."

BELOW: A tourist enjoys a gelato cone on a bridge over a canal used by gondole.

Like many rii in Venice, this canal--or at least this section of it--runs between the backs of buildings and has no fondamenta or pavement alongside (except for a small connector sidewalk just beyond the bridge).

BELOW: In our opinion, neighborhood canals are better than the Grand Canal for gondola rides--at least if you're looking for a romantic experience away from constant barge, speedboat, and waterbus traffic.

BELOW: Many of Venice's gondolas are built and maintained at the Squero di San Trovaso in Dorsoduro, next door to the San Trovaso Church.

BELOW: At the Squero Vecchio, another of Venice's many boatyards, two private gondolas undergo maintenance.

BELOW: An ambulance travels through a neighborhood canal in Venice. (You can see the canal's name on the building wall at top right.)

• Tip: If you have a medical emergency, call 112 to request an ambulance from the city's large and well-equipped hospital.

BELOW: Venice's Vigili del Fuoco, or fire department, operates out of a firehouse near Ca' Foscari University.

BELOW: Venetian firefighters visit a campo, or square, during a fire call or training exercise.

In addition to putting out fires, Venice's firefighters perform miscellaneous duties such as running flags up flagpoles on national holidays and fishing dead bodies out of canals.

BELOW: Spazzini, or sanitation workers, haul away garbage and recyclables in Venice. Their carts are emptied into self-propelled barges at strategic points along the canals.

BELOW: In Venice, barges are used to deliver everything from small packages to furniture, restaurant supplies, hotel laundry, and construction materials.

BELOW: Venice has several produce barges or floating greengrocers where you can buy vegetables or fruit. One is in the San Pietro neighborhood of Castello; another--shown here--is next to the Ponte dei Pugni or "Bridge of Fists" (on right), where bareknuckle tag teams competed in group boxing matches during the 17th Century.

BELOW: Some canals are extremely narrow. This rio in Cannaregio is barely wide enough to accommodate a construction worker's boat.

BELOW: The owner of this boat failed to check the tidal forecast when tying up his boat.

BELOW: If your boat doesn't have GPS (a.k.a. satnav), let your dog sniff out the route for you.

BELOW: Traditional Venetian-style oarsmanship is a popular pastime among locals, expats, and the occasional tourist. (In Venice, real men--and real women--stand while rowing.)

BELOW: Kayak tours have become a staple of the Venice tourism scene. Whether that's desirable is a good topic for debate.

BELOW: When winter arrives in Venice and kayakers go home, local boat owners have other annoyances to occupy their time. (Venice's canals seldom freeze, but snow isn't uncommon.)

BELOW: A boy watches canal fish in Venice's Ghetto.

BELOW: We don't know if fish nibble on moss, but if they do, there's plenty for them to eat on the steps leading into Venice's canals. (When the tide is out, as it is here, more steps--and more moss--are exposed.)

Next page: Water quality, sanitation, maintenance

About the author:

Durant Imboden has written about Venice, Italy since 1996. He covered Venice and European travel at About.com for 4-1/2 years before launching Europe for Visitors (including Venice for Visitors) with Cheryl Imboden in 2001.

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