Castello Travel Guide

Bordering San Marco on one side and spreading across the city from Cannaregio in the west to the housing estates of Sant'Elena in the east, Castello is the most amorphous of the sestieri. So unwieldy is this district that somewhat altered boundaries have been used in laying out our guide. In the west, this section starts off from the waterway that cuts round the back of Santi Apostoli to the northern lagoon, rather than following the zigzagging border of the sestiere. In the east we've stopped at a line drawn north from the landmark Pietà church; the atmospherically distinct area beyond this boundary is covered in another section.

The points of interest in the area covered by this section are evenly distributed, but in terms of its importance and its geographical location, Castello's central building is the immense Gothic church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (or Zanipolo ), the pantheon of Venice's doges. A couple of minutes away stands the much-loved Santa Maria dei Miracoli , the city's most refined architectural miniature, which in turn is close to the often overlooked San Giovanni Crisostomo . The museums covered in this section lie in the southern zone - the Querini-Stampalia picture collection, the museum at San Giorgio dei Greci , and the Museo Diocesano 's sacred art collection. This southern area's dominant building is the majestic San Zaccaria , a church that has played a significant part in the history of the city - as has nearby Santa Maria Formosa , on the liveliest and friendliest square in Castello. Busier still is the southern waterfront, the Riva degli Schiavoni , Venice's main promenade.