WHERE NOW | INSIDER TIPS Piazza San Marco
WHAT ‘S A BACARO? A bacaro is a not to be missed tasting experience: a type of Venetian osteria (usually a small bar area) were a wide selection of “ombre” and “cicchetti” are served. “Cicchetti” are small snacks, bites or plates of typical Venetian food, while “ombre” are the glasses of wine that Venetian drinks to wash down the “cicchetti”.
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(www.palazzoducale.visitmuve.it). And then there’s St. Mark’s bell tower or campanile, one of the most important symbols of the Serenissima. Measuring 100 meters in height, it soars over the square in all its majesty. Its spire is decorated with a revolving golden angel that moves in the wind. From here you can head towards the only open side of the square, which faces towards the lagoon, to admire the view spread out before you including the basin of San Marco, rows of gondolas and, in the background, the islands of San Giorgio and the Giudecca. Moving on, we come to the Bridge of Sighs. The bridge crosses Rio di Palazzo and is located behind St. Mark’s Square. A masterpiece of Baroque architecture, it connects Palazzo Ducale to the New Prisons. Its name derives from the ‘sighs’ emitted by inmates crossing over the bridge from the prisons on their way to the rooms at the Doge’s Palace where they would be sentenced. On your way back to St. Mark’s Square, by taking one of the narrow streets that emerge under the Procuratie Vecchie, next to the Clock Tower, you’ll come across another of Venice’s most iconic bridges. From here, although you’ll find a succession of ‘calli’ and bridges, it’s almost impossible to get lost because you’ll see numerous signs indicating the route to Rialto. The Rialto Bridge which crosses the Grand Canal, linking the San Marco and San Polo districts, is located in the city’s oldest neighbourhood. This area, which was formerly Venice’s main hub of commerce, is still
crowded with mooring posts and picturesque stalls lining the canal. Walk over the bridge and you’ll come to the city’s famous Rialto Market, one of the most evocative in Venice, and a compulsory stopover for those wishing to immerse themselves in an authentic, oldworld Venetian atmosphere, if only for a few minutes. Although at lunch you won’t have time to dine at a restaurant, you’re in luck because the alleys behind the Rialto Market are packed with eateries and ‘bacari’. At All’Arco in Calle dell’Occhialer, you can sample ‘cicchetti’ with baccalà mantecato (whipped salt cod), sarde in saor and shrimps, but also other tapas-like snacks topped with fried eggplant or radicchio, charcuterie, vegetables and cheese. Although there are a few tiny outdoor tables, it’s so crowded that most people prefer to eat standing up. After recharging your batteries, head to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, in the Sestriere di San Polo, where you can admire more than 60 paintings by Tintoretto. In 1564, Tintoretto won a contract to paint the scuola, and his cycle of large-scale paintings, executed between 1564 and 1588, are so spectacular that the Confraternity of St. Roch is referred to as ‘Tintoretto’s Sistine Chapel’. Other highlights include Christ Carrying the Cross, attributed either to Titian or Giorgione, Titian’s Annunciation, Tiepolo’s Abraham and the Angels and Hagar and Ishmael, as well as numerous other masterpieces (www. scuolagrandesanrocco.org). Sadly, after ending your tour of the Scuola, your time in Venice will