San Polo and Santa Croce

Today I plotted out an itinerary in San Polo and Santa Croce, two neighborhoods that are side by side but have their own unique characteristics.  I set out early because I wanted to check out the pescaria, the big Saturday fish market that is held in a dockside piazza right next to the grand canal. 

Getting to San Polo meant crossing over the Grand Canal via the Rialto bridge.  The Ponte di Rialto was the work of Antonio da Ponte, who designed and oversaw its construction in 1592.  It is made of Istrian stone, took 3 years to construct, and connects the two neighborhoods of San Marco and San Polo at the narrowest point in the Grand Canal.

Just on the other side is a large piazza that features a strange sculpture called Il Gobbo (The Hunchback).  As you can see it’s an unfortunate man who has committed some crime and is therefore holding the ‘weight’ of it on his shoulders.  This dates to 1541 and it was the place where official proclamations where made and small punishments given out for those guilty of petty crimes.  Today people rub it for luck, I’m told.

Just past this is the open air produce market and the fish market.  This is where, early in the morning so they can get the good stuff, all the restaurants come to pick out what looks marvelous and pack it out on their motor boats. 

My intention was from here to head over to the Pallazzo Mocenigo.  But I got lost lost lost… in fact, SOMEHOW I ended up way south and at I Frari.  But Fortune is always on my side because it was right when a huge storm hit and I could take cover and be surrounded by BEAUTY.

I Frari is the Chiesa di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.  Built in the 14^th century, it is an Italian-brick Gothic cathedral with massive marble columns inside that support it, a stunning choir with stalls made of seemingly-microscopic marquetry, a somewhat creepy and mesmerizing Longhena funeral monument featuring two grotesque, emaciated human cadavers carved of some very dark marble and not only A Titian, but THE Titian…. The Assumption of Mary, which the pamphlet you get calls ‘the most beautiful picture in the world and ever since it was installed has been lit by the Light of God.’

But this isn't the only masterpiece at I Frari.  There are so many... so many.  Bellini's Madonna and Child (1488) and Canova's magnificent funereal tomb that was intended for Titian but ended up being his own, Veneziano's Madonna and Child (1339).... it's overwhelming.

My next stop was up north in Santa Croce.  The Palazzo Mocenigo is the Mocenigo family's 17th century waterfront palace that was actually bequeathed to the city in 1945.  It is a museum in itself and one is allowed to roam through the palace to see what surrounded a wealthy family in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Rooms are set up as they were, a drawing room, dining room, dressing room, and filled with items that belonged to the family (paintings and furniture) along with prize fabrics and fashions from the Venice archives. 

And to make things even MORE fabulous, they have an exhibit all about Venice's history with perfume... the procuring of ingredients from the far reaches of the world and the creation of fragrances that Venetian ladies dabbed on their décolletages

In short.... fabulous.