Venice Trivia

Sweet! Looking for more good tidbits.

the Santa Lucia train station is a classic example of Mussolini's Fascist architecture, where like in Rome old train stations were demolished for sleek modernistic things - today in Venice this type of modern architecture (in Venice anything after the 1700s or so) would never be tolerated today here IMO.

They've been looting and robbing folks forever..and some say they still are!

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/places-of-a-lifetime/venice-quiz.html?source=sem_G1768&esvt=GOUSE330855034&esvadt=999999-0-3691178-1&esvid=327776&gclid=CMv10I_6m5wCFQEhDQodQHXzeA

Venice Trivia Questions - like why are gondolas painted black?

That was fairly easy, Palenque. I scored 10/10 - though a couple of my answers were guesses (land mass shrinkage and the century when Carnevale began).

The size of the smallest fish allowed to be sold in both the Rialto Pescheria and in Campo Margherita is six cm.

The marble stub column in Campo Margherita was used for pounding dried fish to soften it.

Gambling outside the Church of San Stefano is verboten, and there's a canal running under the sacristy of said church.

My wife is threatening (still) to buy No 1, Santa Croce!

Oh, and the statue of the guy in Campo San Stefano is known, locally, as "el Cagalibri", aka "the Book Shitter".

Bring on the trivia, you founts of esoteric knowledge!

Nice to hear from you again, Peter. Did you get that info (el Cagalibri) from aloverofvenice.com? [That's not a criticism - almost all trivia has to come from somewhere.]

There is another 'Ponte dei Pugni' apart from the famous one, except it's not called that. (Of course. It would be confusing if two bridges had the same name, wouldn't it? There are at least six "Ponte Storto"s [Ponti Storti?]). But there are white marble 'footprints' inlaid into the centre section of the bridge, just like the Ponte dei Pugni on Rio San Barnaba. It's Ponte Santa Fosca, near the statue of Fra. Paolo Sarpi.

and Venice IS sinking - under the weight of tourism

Hi Bert,
The Cagalibri information came from “Venice is a Fish” by Tiziano Scarpa, as did another priceless bit of info.
In Venice you will see pieces of sloping stonework in most corners, or iron railings that prevent people (men, actually) from approaching into the corners. Venice is notoriously short of public conveniences, and the in-fills in the corners prevent the corners from being used for what the French are pleased to call pissoirs.

Black gondolas: Was it an act of democracy by the doge so no one could out do anyone else?n Please tell.

Thanks to technical help from Bert, I am able to bring you a link to photos of those "anti-public conveniences" you see all over. They were one of the subjects for photos on my last trip. For the trivia, what is their Italian name?

http://picasaweb.google.com/yvonne.tab/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCK-5qrGjx6nrYw&pli=1&gsessionid=SHxQuFN_Yqmo2_dkU36_eg#5371162860444154562

I think the Italian name is, freely translated to English, "Little stone things let into corners so that you are forced to spend 1.50 Euro to spend a penny. This is seen as a good investment by the Municipal Authorities", or something like that!

The photographic essay is excellent.

TDudette, welcome! Yes, you are quite right. It was one of the so-called 'Sumptuary Laws', made in 1562, which decreed that, henceforth, all the woodwork was to be painted black (Companion Guide to Venice: Hugh Honour).
I agree with Peter on Yvonne's essay.
Where can you stand in Venice and see four sestieri at the same time (you are allowed to turn your head)?

How about at the top of the Campanile? Har

How about at the corner of water and Santa Maria della Salute?

Every time we have been in Venice, my husband and I have wondered about the purpose of those sloping corner stoneworks. How nice to now know! Thanks, Peter for the explanation and Yvonne for the pictures! Let's have more Venetian trivia!

I thought that they were for sitting on!

silly me.

some of them would not deter little boys or dwarfs, would they?

Do you mean the Punta della Dogana, TD? That's not a bad idea, but you can only see Dorsoduro, San Marco and Castello from there. If you move along the Grand Canal until you can glimpse San Polo, then you can no longer see Castello. The top of the Campanile was clever - I hadn't thought of that! OK, so I have to add the condition that you are (more or less) at ground level. I believe there may be another point from which you may be able to see the same four sestieri - it's at the other end of one of the lines of sight from the first point. I have to admit that I did not originate this piece of trivia - I got it from a really good Venice-inspired website.

I give up on this one Bert!

Katharine Hepburn blamed a lifelong eye infection on Venice because, while shooting "Summertime" there, she took a comic backwards fall into a Venetian canal with her eyes wide open. In the movie, the canal was portrayed as the Grand Canal, but I believe it may be the waters that front the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (but don't take that one to the bank).

TD, just for you, it's on the Ponte de l'Olio over the Rio Fondaco dei Tedeschi, from where you can see San Polo, San Marco, Cannaregio and Castello. I think that, from the point of San Polo that you can see from the bridge, you may be able to see Castello, as well as San Polo, San Marco and Cannaregio, but I'll need to check it out.

Zeppole, the canal certainly wasn't portrayed as the Grand Canal - it's only a few metres wide. It was the Rio San Barnaba, next to Campo San Barnaba where she fell in. If you see the film, what happened to the two men who were walking towards the canal right behind her, just before she fell in? In the next shot, from the other side of the canal, they have disappeared! The story of her eye infection has a wide currency, but according to http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=91886&category=Notes: "Reports from modern sources conflict as to the story that Hepburn contracted a serious, lifelong eye infection due to the famous sequence in which she falls into a canal. Some sources state that the sequence required at least two takes, and that despite adding chlorine and protective tarping to the water, Hepburn's eyes were infected, while others dismiss the story as apocryphal, stating that Hepburn often swam in the canals at night after shooting." But then there's this from the ever-reliable wiki: "In one scene, the character of Jane Hudson falls into a canal when she steps backward while photographing the church in San Barnaba di Venezia. Leading lady Katharine Hepburn, concerned about her health, was disinclined to do the stunt herself, but Lean felt it would be obvious if he replaced her with a double. He filled the water with a disinfectant that caused it to foam, which added to Hepburn's reluctance, then required her to film the scene four times until he was satisfied with the results. That night, Hepburn's eyes began to itch and tear. She eventually was diagnosed with a rare form of conjunctivitis that plagued her for the remainder of her life. [3]" Elsewhere, I read that KH refused a double because she "didn't stand straight enough" [as if that would matter in a shot of her falling into the canal]. Also, that it was because she failed to close her eyes that they were infected - I cannot see that making a difference, as she had to open them as she swam in the canal to the steps, so water would have gone into her eyes anyway. Wiki says she was filming the church, but she wasn't - she was filming the 'antique shop' where she had seen the red goblet.

Canova was honourary President of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts.

Canova’s heart rests in the monument to him in the Frari, most of his body at Possagno, and his right hand is somehwere in the Academia.

One of Venice's Doges died in Constantinople, present-day Istanbul. Already in his 90's, in 1204 he diverted the armies of the Fourth Crusade to an assault on the commercially-competitive Christian city of Constantinople. Venice got the better part of the spoils, including the four bronze horses that were transported from the Hippodrome to adorn Basilica San Marco. Dandolo died in 1205 and was buried in Ayasofya in Constantinople. After the Ottoman conquest of that city in 1453, his tomb was opened and his bones thrown to the dogs.

bert,

I chose my words pretty carefully. I said Hepburn blamed the infection on the canal -- not that the canal was responsible, and that the canal she feel into was portrayed as the Grand Canal -- which is how it has been interpreted (try a Google search) even though, I agree with you, the canal seen in the movie is far too small.

peter,

The monument in the Frari was designed by Canova for Titian -- who outlived Canova.

Small oddity in the Frari - just to the right of the monument with the four huge Moors, there is a small bomb mounted on the wall. Fell on the Frari in 1917 or 1918, and failed to explode.
I did not realise that Constantinople was a Christian city at the time of the Fourth Crusade. I'm reading Runciman's 1952 History of the Crusades right now (the First Crusade has just finished with Volume 1, about 1102 AD.)

THanks, Bert. Get out the Venice map!

Zeppole, I wasn't saying that you were wrong, just that there seems to be some debate about whether it was the scene in the film that was the cause or whether it was her own out-of-hours swimming for pleasure. Either way, it seems as though it's not a good idea to get canal water in you eyes.
But I've seen that part of the film and I don't see how anyone can say that David Lean (or anyone else) is portraying the Rio San Barnaba as the Grand Canal. The name of the canal is not mentioned in the film. I haven't Googled it yet, but maybe it's just a tale that has been retold many times and the only canal in Venice that everybody has heard of is the Grand Canal, so that gets the credit (or blame). Like the (fictional) Pensione Fiorini is often said to be the (real) Pensione Accademia, but it's not.

Peter, I knew about the heart and body of Canova, but not about the hand, or the connection with Philadelphia. I'd like to know if the tomb in the Frari and the Tempio in Possagno are 'to scale', I mean in the same ratio as an average heart to an average body. The Tempio must be one of the largest mausoleums to the memory of one man.

Enrico Dandolo was the Doge who (almost unbelievably) led the assault on Constantinople at the age of 94 and being almost blind.

Well done, Venice fans - keep 'em coming!

When strolling through San Marco Square, once dubbed the World's Drawing Room i believe think of the day in 1902 when the tall slender campanile collapsed into a pile or rubble - no one hurt but the tower's keeper's cat was killed.

Wikipedia says: In July 1902, the north wall of the tower began to show signs of a dangerous crack that in the following days continued to grow. Finally, on Monday, July 14, around 9:45 am, the campanile collapsed completely, also demolishing the logetta. Remarkably, no one was killed, except for the caretaker's cat.[1] Because of the campanile's position, the resulting damage was relatively limited. Apart from the logetta, only a corner of the Biblioteca Marciana was destroyed. The piera del bando, a large porphyry column from which laws used to be read, protected the basilica itself."

That's not trivia, Palenque. It's far too important an event to be considered trivial What may be trivial is that the cat was named after Casanova's dog, and that the wife of the custodian of the campanile was ironing shirts when she had to leave. Ten years later, when the new Campanile was opened, six guests at the celebratory dinner wore those same shirts that had been rescued from the rubble.[Source: 'Venice', James Morris]

Now that's cool trivia, Bert! Are you from there or in love with the most serene as DH and I are???

Bert, I can't for the klife of me remember where Canova's hand comes from. It might, just might, be from The Rough Guide. In the meantime:

I’ve found the church of San’ Antonin, but it’s been de-consectrated and is closed. Morris records that, in 1819, an elephant, having escaped from a visiting managerie, took refuge in that church, and was “only despatched with a shot from a piece of ordnance”, according to contemporary records. The main doors open towards the Rio de San Agostino, no doubt allowing easy removal of the unfortunate animal. The Church is just around the corner from the Calle della Morte, not a dead end street, and probably not imortalising the death of the elephant.

cats, cats, cats galore

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CATS OF VENICE: Forget the Lion of St. Mark--Venice's real-life mascots are feline, but they're a good deal smaller and more abundant than their African ...
europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/cats_of_venice.htm - Cached - Similar
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Oldest Cat in Venice - Venice for Visitors
Venice Italy - Neno the 22-year-old cat. ABOVE: Neno on his favorite 500-year-old windowsill. No one can say for sure that Neno is Venice's oldest cat, ...
europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venices_oldest_cat.htm

Now bert will say that the zillions of feral and non-feral tiny straggly cats that haunt it seems practically every crook and cranny are not trivia - but oogling Venice's oldest cat, allegedly, is a trivia tidbit for sure.

Peter,
Have you been using the "Don't Look Now" or "Summertime" map of Venice (maps where you turn a corner and find yourself on the opposite side of the city)?
Sant' Antonin faces the Rio della Pietà, and behind it is the Rio di San Martino. I cannot find a 'Calle della Morta'; the nearest I can find is Calle dei Morti, but that's nowhere near Sant' Antonin.[It's in Santa Croce, near San Cassiano.]
Oh, no, Palenque - cats are good trivia. Have you heard about Nini, the cat that became an international celebrity? He, a white tom, lived at the Caffè dei Frari in the 1890s. The caffè had a visitors' book signed by a pope, a czar, a king, a queen and a prince - and Verdi. When I asked, I was told that the book had been lost. The canopy of the caffè depicts a cat, but that seems to be all that remains. The caffè is well worth a visit. I was told that the paintings inside date from about 1910.
TD, No I don't live there (wish I did!). It's just a 25-year love affair (others might call it an obsession).

I've just added three photos of the Caffè dei Frari to begin a new album (which may be a very small album) caled Bert's Venice Trivia:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/grabagrannie/BertSVeniceTrivia#5372035847725453234
They were taken last September.

This might be better:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/grabagrannie/BertSVeniceTrivia#
Sorry. On some forums you can edit stuff you posted yourself, but not here, it seems.

More, Bert! This is a fun forum.

And the first female gondolier in Venice' long gondola history has happened. Not trivial but trivia?

Venice's first female gondolier pushes off into uncharted waters ...
Jul 21, 2009 ... Venice's first female gondolier pushes off into uncharted waters. Giorgia Boscolo dreamed of following in her father's gondola wake since ...
www.latimes.com/.../la-fg-venice-gondolier21-2009jul21,0,5375195.story

That looks interesting, Palenque. Unfortunately, when I clicked on the link, it said "Your client is not allowed to access the requested object." Gondoliers and gondolas would probably make a subject all on their own. I wonder how many people go for a cruise on a sandolo, not realising that it is not a gondola? According to Morris, writing ca 1960, there were 25 licensed sandoli (the rest being "outside the law"), compared with 400 gondolas. Almost every book I have that goes into detail about the gondola gives a different detail - 8, 9, or 10 types of wood used in the construction, 4, 7, or 10 coats of black paint (or lacquer), etc. The modern design was perfected by Domenico Tramontin either in the late 19th century or in 1921. Take your pick.

Interesting. Same here, Pal, site forbidden. Perhaps for latimes subscribers only?

Will google sandoli now, Bert.

Under the "I'm feeling lucky" google option, the following came up when I googled "gondola vs sandola"

http://gondolablog.blogspot.com/2009/08/sandolo-limbo.html

That's a great site, TDudette. Thanks! I'll have to "Feel lucky" more often!

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First Female Gondolier Has Venice Talking
It took more than a thousand years for a woman to break into the all male ranks of Venetian gondoliers. The German born woman who will take ...
www.amoretravelguides.com/.../first-female-gondolier-has-venice-talking.php - Cached - Similar
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Venice's first female gondolier pushes off into uncharted waters ...
Jul 21, 2009 ... As a little girl in Venice, Giorgia Boscolo was forever bugging her father to let her ride with him in his gondola.
www.chicagotribune.com/.../la-fg-venice-gondolier21-2009jul21,0,5337296.story -

10.San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon, completely occupied by a _________ that is the mother-house of the Mekhitarist Order, the island is one of the world's foremost centers of Armenian culture.

took this from a google search that led me to http://www.shejapan.com/whs/venice/Multiple.html and this nugget

Hi Bert,
Calle della Morte runs from the north west corner of Campo Bandiera e Moro. It's about a metre wide, runs straight north, and then turns right (east) and joins into Saliz. San Antonin. It shows on one of my maps, but is not named on the map.

It is too narrow to drag an elephant down it, unless the elephant were first to be butchered.

Cheers

Peter

Thanks, Peter. The street is shown on my maps too, but it is not named. A search on venicexplorer also failed to find it - I've let them know.
I took a trip to San Lazzaro last September. I'll put a couple of photos on the trivia album.
Still not getting anything from Palenque's links.

Senior moment. It was May 2006, not September last year. I was still on film then, so not so profligate with the shots I took. Those (now posted on trivia album) were the only three photos I took. I wish I'd taken one of the monk who led the tour, but I guess I thought it would have been a bit rude. They don't actually allow photos inside, so don't tell anyone about the Tiepolo

Caffe dei Frari.... where is it located? The Frari is my favorite place in Venice..... how could we have missed the Caffe......????? -

It's at San Polo, 2564. Thanks to this trivia thread, we should all find that with no trouble!

Here's a link to a Google map, for a start:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF-8&q=caffe+dei+frari+venice&fb=1&split=1&gl=au&cid=17849182305037344332&li=lmd

The Google map shows the right area (sort of), but that marker pin is quite a long way out. Try www.ombra.net. You can search for all sorts of things - palaces, bars, hotels, churches etc. - you can also search for 'civic numbers'. If you know the sestiere, click on the one you want on the drop-down menu, then enter the number in the appropriate place. If their computer finds what you are looking for, the name of the street (calle), fondamenta, campo, or whatever, will appear. If you then click on that, a map will appear with an annoying red pulsating disc on the exact spot. Do this for San Polo 2564, and you will get the Caffè dei Frari, which is right in front of the Frari Church, on the Fondamenta dei Frari, a couple of metres north of the Ponte dei Frari. [If their computer does not find what you are looking for, you get an error message, and an invitation to let them know what you think may be incorrect - i.e. if you are sure the place exists, but their computer cannot find it.] Heather Rocco seems to have taken more photos of Venice in one day than even I did, and one of them is this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherrocco/3714159746/in/set-72157621213362617/
[which is how I knew about the canopy - which may be what a Scotsman might say when caught short in Venice and faced with one of Yvonne's "anti-public conveniences" ]

Googlemaps seems to have found San Polo 2654. Can computers suffer from dyslexia? [I believe this is the correct term, even though it's numbers, not letters, that have been transposed.]

Stop Press! Peter - Canova's hand was returned to Possagno in 2008 to be reunited with his body! It was removed after his death in 1822 and kept at the Accademia till last year.
How macabre!

Bert, I'm glad that Canova's body is finally being re-assembled. I'm sure that he'd be happy!

ttt

I find the mapping utilities at Venice Explorer to work very well. Your can search by street name, civic number -- many different options.

http://maps.venicexplorer.net/maps.php?hlangs=en

Last time I was in Venice I asked a pair of gondoliers about the gondoliera - they'd never heard of her! I asked a couple more, and they said she was a the San Toma station. I didn't have time to find her.
I've added a three more photos to the trivia album - I hope you find them interesting but trivial.

I'll look for la gondoliera when I'm next in Venice, Bert. And, in the last photo of the ones you just added, what is that object, please? Looks like a deadly weapon.

It won't take long for someone to identify where I took this photo.

http://picasaweb.google.com/yvonne.tab/Venice?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzm5-nhjIj-Sg#5379295426367951506

Oh, darn. I just found the whole album posted, not the one photo. And, because I am still a novice with Picasa, there are some duplications. Mi dispiace! (I'm sorry.)

Allora, Bert!! Is that last object an unexploded bomb?

Yes, indeed it is, Yvonne. I thought I had captioned it, but I evidently did not click on 'save caption' before exiting. I have just captioned it. It is the bomb that Peter mentioned above. I put that in the caption, and I have just realised it will make no sense to anyone who finds it by a route other that this thread. Oh well, I think I'll leave it as it is.
PS I hope they have disarmed the bomb, rather than relying on the fact that it didn't go off when it was originally dropped, so it's probably a dud and will never go off.

Now, you've given me something new to obsess about while I'm obsessing about Venice! Will I ever be able to enter that edifice again, without thinking about whether it's disarmed, or not? Thanks a heap, Bert. And, I really did want to worship at the resting place of part of my hero, Canova.

ttt

It seems that there are two gondolieras in Venice - well sort of. One of them has failed her steering test three times - no jokes, please! - Alexandra Hai. But she has been employed by a hotel to ferry its clients to and from the hotel. The other is Giorgia Boscolo, who has passed her exams, but she seems to have only been allowed to co-row a traghetto (San Tomà, if my informant was correct). Both have been given primacy by the media.

Bert, - I've been reading all the posts so it might not be Bert - however, I was excited to see the photo of the concentric circles - (x-wells) in San Marco and look forward to finding them on our next visit. My husband and I have spent many many weeks over the years in our favorite city, Venezia. We take our grandchildren there when they reach the age of 11 - perfect age to explore Venice with grandparents. I'm afraid that all my trivia would be that same boring stuff we all know but if i come up with something interesting I'll post it. I'm enjoying this forum and beginning to wish we were spending our month (Janurary) in Venezia invece di Roma! 2011 we'll do Venice.

Grazie, giannetta. Si, sono Bert. Non parlo italiano molto bene, so I'll stick to English. Your English is very good - better than my Italian. Don't be shy about your trivia - perhaps we don't all know it. I read in a book that the word "Calegheri" can be found inscribed on a stone in the Piazza - showing where the shoe-makers stall was to stand. It said it was in front of Quadri's caffè. I've looked and looked but could not find it. But I had never read about the rings showing where the well was, so I felt rather pleased with myself. Perhaps, giannetta, you could explain about touching the hooks - Is it only done for good luck in Venice, or is the custom more widespread? I am so pleased that you find this thread enjoyable!

I read somewhere that in Corte Coppo, off Fondamenta dei Furlani, near San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, is (or was) the home of the first woman to be quartered for murdering her husband of 22 years on 1st May 1521. This obviously wasn't trivial to him or her. I have been there and there is no plaque recording the event.
If anyone else has seen this, I'd be grateful for the source.

Congratulations on this thread, which is really fun, and most interesting at the same time. (I noticed it when it was still recent, but got only now to read it thoroughly. And so though that posting is old, let me say I was pretty surprised to read that bit on Canova and Titian. Maybe it's just me getting it wrong, but... Titian outlived Canova? Ummm - Titian, born no later than 1490, died August 27th, 1576. Canova, born Nov. 1st, 1757, died Oct. 13th, 1822.)

Bert, the Corte Coppo puzzle was easy: http://www.venicemagazine.it/DOCPDF/Talve.pdf

And here's another bit of Venice trivia: the passageway from the Piazza towards S. Moisè, i.e. under the Ala Napoleonica, is divided by two rows of pillars, forming two wide tracks to the left and right of the pillars, and a relatively narrow track between the two rows. Venetians are carefully not to walk along the narrow track, i.e. never to pass between two adjacent pillars "perché porta nero" (it's bringing bad luck). Or, if they ever pass through the "forbidden" area (inadvertently, or forced by pedestrian traffic), the immediate remedy is to touch the so-called Bacco, a neo-classical bas-relief that has in fact absolutely nothing to do with the ancient god of wine. Venetians are very serious about that - "Bacco's" belly is glossy from the many hands that have been, and are still, touching him.

mille grazie Franco for posting the link to that article, jsut before i'm going to eat my dinner.

ciao, ciao.

Ciao, Franco. Grazie. I see that you have made many contributions to Fodor's about Venice. Maybe you could email me and I could ask you some of the questions I have about Venice. [I don't want to bore everyone else with my passion.]
I may have read about Corte Coppo in the Venice Magazine, but I don't think so, as I haven't seen that edition. I think it must have been in a book. I think I read it before I had a computer. Zeppole must have had a "senior moment", or perhaps the error was in his translation. But it does seem odd that "they" decided to erect a monument to Titian so long after he died. Some sources say that Canova's heart went to the Accademia, but I'm sure they are wrong. There is some confusion as to whether his heart is within the pyramid, or in the urn being carried into the pyramid by the figure representing Sculpture. Do you know the facts?
I knew about the bad luck of walking between the columns of the Piazzetta, but not about the columns under the Ala Napoleonica. That must be a relatively recent superstition - I mean it does not go back to the Middle Ages or the age of witchcraft. Perhaps the Venetian "have a thing" about walking between any columns? I will be looking out for Bacco's belly!
Annhig - if Bernardina's fate put you off your dinner, don't read about the chap who bit his wife's nose off on the Ponte della Latte!

Bert - I'll make a special effort NOT to find out about that one.

Bert, you've quite certainly read the story in a book - look at the author: Toso Fei is a very popular writer on, well yes, on Venice trivia. The magazine will certainly have taken that bit from one of the two books mentioned below the article.
As far as emailing, I'm opposed to that on principle, sorry. For me, the charm of a forum like this is that so many people (not just today, but in many years to come) can benefit from seemingly "private" discussions. And if someone feels bored by your or Peter's or my Venice passion, well, nobody is being forced to read this or any other thread... So please keep posting here, but don't suppose that I know everything on Venice - on the contrary: I've no idea on Canova's heart (I plead guilty of not liking Canova at all). What I do know is that "they" were the Hapsburgs (then reigning the Veneto) who commissioned the Titian monument, obviously in reverence to the most famous Venetian painter. Btw, though it's overly fussy, no doubt - I was irritated by "Ponte della latte", which doesn't make sense since latte is male (del latte, quindi), so I looked it up in Giordani's "30 Walks" (a must for Venice trivia lovers and Venice lovers in general!)... and it's actually Ponte de la Late, obviously a distorted (and thus meaningless, as well) form of "del a Lacte", since the bridge was named after a 14th century goldsmith Giovanni a Lacte. A Lacte became (typically Venetian) a Late, obviously, and then the L changed place, from "del a" to "de la"...

Very interesting. So glad we don't have gender in English-it's difficult enough as it is.

Have said on other posts but repeat, it fascinates me to ponder the idea of city-states. Just think about Baltimore being at war with DC! It also makes the difficulty of finding one's way in Venice (and other Italian towns too) all the more understandable. Streets changing names at every block? So much behind closed doors without signs.

Franco, isn't that just the difference between Venetian and Italian? - the Venetians write "de la" and in Italian it is "della".
Can you get into Piazza San Marco when Quadri's do not have their platform outside (where the orchestra plays)? That is the only place I've not been able to look for the word "Calegheri" which a book says is written on a stone in front of Quadri's caffè.
Here's a bit of trivia: San Stefano [Venetian - Santo Stafano in Italian] has been reconsecrated six times between 1348 and 1594 because six people have been murdered there.

I'll try to remember next time I'm in Venice. You're right that Venetian "de la" is "della" in proper Italian. But that was not my point - the point is that "Ponte della latte" is neither Italian nor Venetian; it's just plain wrong because in Italian and in Venetian, likewise, it would have to be "Ponte del Latte", if latte is meant to mean "milk". That's what made me research about that name, which should read (in proper Italian as well as in Venetian, no difference here) "Ponte del a Lacte", like in (one day perhaps, hopefully not) "Ponte del Berlusconi" - a Lacte is a surname!

Friends have told me that Venice (or actually Mestre, across the lagoon and really where most Venetians seem to live today) has one of Europe's most substantial China Towns - i have not seen it and wonder if others who have could comment on Mestre's China Town?

And does the term Venetian Blinds come from Venice and one would obviously think - but why?

Oh, I see. I thought you were saying I had typed it incorrectly and it should be Ponte de la Latte. The derivation is interesting and trivial. It must sound as awful to you when people get the gender wrong as it does to me when so many people say, "There's lots of things wrong with the world" or similar - I mean, not everybody says that - it's just an example. Spanish and French have the same words for "there is" and "there are" ['hay' and 'il y a'], and it looks as though English will soon.
I cannot help with Palenque's questions.

I can't help much with Palenque's questions, either, but I dare saying "one of Europe's most substantial China Towns" will quite certainly be exaggerated. I think the China Town of Paris is almost as large as all of Mestre! (Mestre is actually small.) And for Venetian Blinds, Wikipedia has at least a conjectural explanation of the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_blind.
Something trivial I might add à propos of blinds - standard Italian blinds (which are not of the "Venetian" type, of course) are called scuri in Venice (as well as in some other parts of northern Italy). Many Italians from elsewhere, though, will take on a bewildered look when you call a "scuro" what, for them, is an "imposta".

There are two sotoportegos in Cannaregio called "del Traghetto". One of them featured in the film "Wings of the Dove" (where Helena Bonham-Carter and Linus Roache shared an "intimate" moment); the other featured in the BBC adaptation of "Little Dorrit". That's quite a trivial coincidence, I'd say.

ttt

One for you Venice buffs - from today's Sydney Sun-Herald - author Michelle Lovric, who lives in Venice and London, on one of the books that changed her -
"If you want real Venice, you must keep company with the Venetian's Venetian Giuseppe Tassini. His Curiosita Veneziane is an anecdotal gazetteer of every street in the city. Published in 1869, it's never been bettered, nor translated into English, though I'm working on it. Thanks to Tassini, I discovered the column of infamy of Bajamonte Tiepolo, the 14th-century Venetian who is the villain of [her] The Undrowned Child. I'm now campaigning to get it re-erected."

Lovric's website -
http://www.michellelovric.com/index.htm
and for The Undrowned Child - http://www.undrownedchild.com/#2
(including her gallery of cats)

I understand that the column is in the Correr Museum. There is a stone set in the pavement at the entrance to Campo Sant' Agostin inscribed: "Loc. Col. Bai. The. 1310." (The place of the Column of Baiamonti Tiepolo, 1310.)
Good luck to Ms Lovric.