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Canal Grande | |
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| Canal | |
 The Grand Canal looking south from theRialto Bridge | |
| Location | Venice, Italy |
 Click the map for an interactive, fullscreen view. | |
TheGrand Canal (Italian:Canal Grande[kaˌnalˈɡrande], locally and informallyCanalazzo;Venetian:Canal Grando, locally usuallyCanałaso[kanaˈɰaso]) is the largestchannel inVenice, Italy, forming one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.
One end of the canal leads into thelagoon near theSanta Lucia railway station and the other end leads into the basin atSan Marco; in between, it makes a large reverse-S shape through the central districts (sestieri) of Venice. It is 3.8 kilometres (2.4 miles) long, and 30 to 90 metres (98 to 295 ft) wide, with an average depth of 5 metres (16 feet).
The banks of the Grand Canal are lined with more than 170 buildings, most of which date from the 13th to the 18th century, and demonstrate the welfare and art created by theRepublic of Venice. Thenoble Venetian families faced huge expenses to show off their richness in suitablepalazzos; this contest reveals the citizens’ pride and the deep bond with the lagoon. Amongst the many are thePalazzi Barbaro,Ca' Rezzonico,Ca' d'Oro,Palazzo Dario,Ca' Foscari,Palazzo Barbarigo and toPalazzo Venier dei Leoni, housing thePeggy Guggenheim Collection.[1] The churches along the canal include the basilica ofSanta Maria della Salute. Centuries-old traditions, such as theHistorical Regatta [it], are perpetuated every year along the Canal.
Because most of the city's traffic goes along the Canal rather than across it, only one bridge crossed the canal until the 19th century, theRialto Bridge. There are currently three more bridges, thePonte degli Scalzi, thePonte dell'Accademia, and the controversialPonte della Costituzione from 2008, designed bySantiago Calatrava, connecting the train station toPiazzale Roma, one of the few places in Venice where buses and cars can enter. As was usual in the past, people can still take a ferry ride across the canal at several points by standing up on the deck of a simplegondola called atraghetto, although this service is less common than even a decade ago.[when?]
Most of the palaces emerge from water without pavement. Consequently, one can only tour past the fronts of the buildings on the grand canal by boat.
The Grand Canal probably follows the course of an ancient river (possibly a branch of theBrenta) flowing into the lagoon.Adriatic Veneti groups already lived beside the formerly-named "Rio Businiacus" before the Roman age. They lived instilt houses and relied on fishing and commerce (mainly salt). Under the rule of theRoman Empire and later of theByzantine Empire the lagoon became populated and important, and in the early 9th century thedoge moved his seat fromMalamocco to the safer "Rivoaltus".[clarification needed]
Increasing trade followed the doge and found in the deep Grand Canal a safe and ship accessible canal-port.Drainage reveals that the city became more compact over time: at that time the Canal was wider and flowed between small,tide-subjected islands connected by wooden bridges.
Along the Canal, the number of "fondaco" houses increased, buildings combining the warehouse and the merchant's residence.
Aportico (thecuria) covers the bank and facilitates the ships' unloading. From the portico a corridor flanked by storerooms reaches a posteriorcourtyard. Similarly, on the first floor aloggia as large as the portico illuminates the hall into which open the merchant's rooms. The façade is thereby divided into an airy central part and two more solid sides. A lowmezzanine with offices divides the two floors.
The fondaco house often had lateral defensive towers (torreselle), as in theFondaco dei Turchi (13th century, heavily restored in the 19th). With the German warehouse, theFondaco dei Tedeschi (which is also situated on the Grand Canal), it reflects the high number of foreign merchants working in Venice, where the republic supplied them with storerooms and lodging and simultaneously controlled their trading activity.
More public buildings were built along the Canal atRialto: palaces for commercial and financial Benches (Palazzo dei Camerlenghi andPalazzo dei Dieci Savi, rebuilt after 1514 fire) and amint. In 1181 Nicolò Barattieri constructed apontoon bridge connecting Rialto to Mercerie area, which was later replaced by a wooden bridge with shops on it. Warehouses for flour and salt were more peripheral.
From the Byzantine empire, goods arrived together with sculptures,friezes,columns andcapitals to decorate the fondaco houses ofpatrician families. TheByzantine art merged with previous elements resulting in a Venetian-Byzantine style; in architecture, it was characterized by largeloggias with round or elongatedarches and by polychrome marbles abundance.
Along the Grand Canal, these elements are well preserved inCa' Farsetti,Ca' Loredan (bothmunicipal seats) andCa' da Mosto, all dating back to the 12th or 13th century. During this period Rialto had an intense building development, determining the conformation of the Canal and surrounding areas. As a matter of fact, in Venice building materials are precious andfoundations are usually kept: in the subsequent restorations, existing elements will be used again, mixing the Venetian-Byzantine and the new styles (Ca' Sagredo,Palazzo Bembo). Polychromy, three-partitioned façades, loggias, diffuse openings, and rooms disposition formed a particular architectural taste that continued in the future.
TheFourth Crusade, with the loot obtained from thesack of Constantinople (1204), and other historical situations, gave Venice an Eastern influence until the late 14th century.
Venetian Gothic architecture found favor quite late, as a splendidflamboyant Gothic ("gotico fiorito") beginning with the southern façade of theDoge's Palace. The verticality and the illumination characterizing the Gothic style are found in the porticos and loggias of fondaco houses: columns get thinner, elongated arches are replaced by pointed orogee or lobed ones. Porticos rise gently intertwining and drawing open marbles inquatrefoils or similar figures. Façades wereplastered in brilliant colors.
The open marble fascias, often called "laces", quickly diffused along the Grand Canal. Among the 15th-century palaces still showing the original appearance areCa' d'Oro,Palazzo Bernardo a San Polo,Ca' Foscari (now housing theUniversity of Venice),Palazzo Pisani Moretta,Palazzi Barbaro,Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti.[1][2]
By the start of the 15th century,Renaissance architecture motifs appear in such buildings as thePalazzo Dario and thePalazzo Corner Spinelli; the latter was designed byMauro Codussi, pioneer of this style in Venice.Ca' Vendramin Calergi, another of his projects (now hosting theCasino), reveals a completed transition: the numerous and large windows with open marbles are round-arched and have columns in the threeclassical orders.
Classical architecture is more evident inJacopo Sansovino's projects, who arrived fromRome in 1527. Along the Canal, he designedPalazzo Corner andPalazzo Dolfin Manin, known for grandiosity, for the horizontal layout of the white façades and for the development around a central courtyard. Other Renaissance buildings arePalazzo Papadopoli andPalazzo Grimani di San Luca. Several palaces of this period had façades with frescoes by painters such asIl Pordenone,Tintoretto,Paolo Veronese, all of them unfortunately lost. Particularly noteworthy were the frescoes by Veronese andZelotti onCa Cappello, overlooking the Grand Canal at the intersection with the Rio de S. Polo.
In 1582,Alessandro Vittoria began the construction ofPalazzo Balbi (now housing theGovernment of Veneto), in whichBaroque elements can be recognized: fashionedcornices, brokenpediments, ornamental motifs.
The major Baroque architect in Venice wasBaldassarre Longhena. In 1631 he began to build the magnificentSanta Maria della Salutebasilica, one of the most beautiful churches in Venice and a symbol of Grand Canal. The classical layout of the façade features decorations and by many statues, the latter crowning also the refinedvolutes surrounding the majordome.
Longhena later designed two majestic palaces,Ca' Pesaro andCa' Rezzonico (with manycarvings andchiaroscuro effects), andSanta Maria di Nazareth church (Chiesa degli Scalzi). For various reasons the great architect did not see any of these buildings finished, and the designs for all but Santa Maria Della Salute were modified after his death.
Longhena's themes recur in the two older façades ofPalazzo Labia, containing a famous fresco cycle byGiambattista Tiepolo. In the Longhenian school grewDomenico Rossi (San Stae's façade,Ca' Corner della Regina) andGiorgio Massari, who later completed Ca' Rezzonico.
The 16th and 17th centuries mark the beginning of the Republic's decline, but nevertheless, they saw the highest building activity on the Grand Canal. This can be partially explained by the increasing number of families (like the Labia) becoming patrician by the payment of an enormous sum to the Republic, which was then facing financial difficulties. Once these families had achieved this new status, they built themselves with impressive residences on the Canal, often inducing other families to renew theirs.
Neoclassical architectures along the Canal date to the 18th century: during the first half was builtSan Simeone Piccolo, with an impressivecorinthian portico, centralplan and a high copper-covered dome ending in acupola shaped as a temple. Date to the second half Massari'sPalazzo Grassi.
After thefall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, much of the palatial construction in Venice was suspended, as symbolized by the unfinishedSan Marcuola andPalazzo Venier dei Leoni (housing thePeggy Guggenheim Collection). The Patrician families, bereft of their hereditary role in governance and sometimes persecuted by revolutionary forces, sought other residences. Several historical palaces were pulled down, but many found other uses, and some restorations have saved their 18th-century appearance. By the late 20th century, most of the more prominent palaces were owned by the city, state, or civic institutions.
During the era of theNapoleonic Kingdom of Italy, theNapoleonic suppression of the monasticreligious orders vacated large sectors of real estate in the city. It also freed large amounts of furnishings and works of art into the antiquarian market or into the possession of the state. Large monasteries changed functions: theSanta Maria della Carità complex became a museum, theGallerie dell'Accademia; the Santa Croce complex, was converted into the Papadopoli Gardens area; and the Santa Lucia complex (partially designed byPalladio) was razed for the establishment of theSanta Lucia Station.
TheKingdom of Italy accession restored serenity in the city and stimulated construction along the Grand Canal respecting its beauty, often reproduced inGothic Revival architectures like the Pescaria at Rialto.
On the first Sunday of September the Historical Regatta ("Regata Storica") takes place, a competition between Venetian boats watched by thousands of people from the banks or from floating stands.[3] Competitions are preceded by a historical procession ("Corteo Storico") remembering the entrance of theQueen of CyprusCatherine Cornaro after abdication in 1489: gondoliers in costumes sail in typical 16th century boats following theBucentaur, doge's stategalley.[4]
On November 21, Venetians thank theVirgin Mary for salvation from theplague epidemic in 1630–38 with a pilgrimage toSanta Maria della Salute. Pilgrims cross the Grand Canal on a temporary pontoon bridge from Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, and enjoy stalls and traditional dishes.[5]
| Preceded by Gallerie dell'Accademia | Venice landmarks Grand Canal | Succeeded by Piazza San Marco |
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