As I plan to gammify parts of the city of Venice I need to be very familiar with its geography, identifying the areas that are empty of tourists, which have interesting locations to visit. These will help me build the tour routes.
Index:
- Map of the most popular tourist routes
- Map of the interesting locations
- Tour Guide suggestions
- Possible routes
- Field research, Diamond route
- Creating a new route
- Visual documentation of the stops
- Choosing a different Venetian Legend
Map of the most popular tourist routes:
(The aim would be to stay away from those)
Map of the interesting locations:
There are various categories, each tour will contain one of each.
- Churches (purple cross)
- Artisans (orange heart)
- Museums (blue temple)
- Legends (green star)
- Hidden Gems (red square)
- Tour guide’s suggestions (yellow markers)
Tour guide suggestions:
I reached out to Marco Loredan, founder of The Venice Experience. It is a travel agency that specialises in the organisation of conferences, visits of villas, palaces, gardens and historical cellars that are not open to the public in Venice and on the mainland. www.thevenicexperience.com
All the yellow pointer on the maps were his suggestions of special places off the beaten track. He helped enrich my routes and discover new places.
Email exchange:
Possible Routes:
(Left side of the Gran Canal)
Emerald (990 m)
- Palazzo Ca’ Zenobio
- (Find a hidden Gem)
- Legatoria Polliero Venezia
- Frari Basilica
- Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia (scary light)
Onyx (size 1, 42 km)
- Ca’ Rezzonico
- Frari Basilica
- Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia (scary light)
- Sergio Boldrin (masks)
- Santa Maria Mater Domini (Cute square)
Amber (size 1, 35km)
- Palazzo Mocenigo
- Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia (scary light)
- Frari Basilica
- Sergio Boldrin (masks)
- Santa Maria Mater Domini (Beautiful square)
(Right of the Gran Canal)
Diamond (size 2, 22 km)
- Hidden Gem (Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo) really cool stair case
- Chiesa di San Zaccaria
- Palazzo Grimani
- Sotoportego dei Preti (the legend of the mermaid)
- L’Artista Della Barbaria Venezia (masks)
This particular route seems to be the most promising at the moment. I need to research in depth each of the locations.
Field research, Diamond route:
20/06/ 2021
Here I document the Diamond route, its positive aspects and challenges. By the end of this field research I had made up my mind that I had to redesign the itinerary completely.
I started the day like any other person starts the day in Venice, by getting lost. Although I am half Venetian and have spent various holidays in the city I still lack a true local’s knowledge of the streets.
For each stop on the route I wrote some bullet points in my notebook (positive and negative attributes of the locations). I took pictures to document the route and for inspiration for the narration and history of the guide.
Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo:
- The little campo is a good place to gather and start the game
- Tickets can be booked to visit the inside
- The area in front of it can get a little crowded (just because the space is narrow)
- The place is not too crowded, however, there are fewer tourists at the moment than there would normally be at this time of year
- It is hidden away in an unassuming location, which enhances the surprise when one finds it as it is beautiful.
Chiesa di San Zaccaria:
- The Square where the church is situated is quiet and spacious
- However, one has to walk through very touristy areas to get to it, which is something I am trying to avoid
- The entrance porch to the square is beautiful
- The façade of the church is inspiring
- The older wing of the church is romantic and inside a little garden
- The entrance is free but one must pay to visit the crypt, which is a unique feature of this church (it floods with lagoon water)
- It contains paintings by Giovanni Bellini, and Tintoretto
Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci:
Although this stop was not originally part of the tour, I decided to explore it, as Francesco (previous intervention stakeholder) had advised me to include it. Plus it is only 5 minutes away from the previous location.
- Very private and peaceful
- Spacious
- Places to sit and trees
- Got attacked by mosquitos
- CCTV
- (did not explore the inside as it was closed)
Sotoportego Dei Preti (legend location):
- It is very far away from the other stops
- From there, we need to retrace our steps in order to reach the next stop (not very interesting and counter productive)
- Located in a more quiet area of the city, which is nice
L’Artista Della Barbaria (artisanal masks):
This stop sadly shows how much Venice was hit by the Covid crisis as the shop had recently closed when I found it. This was the only artisanal boutique that I could find online in that neighbourhood, which made me panic a little. Fortunately, while walking to the next stop I stumbled upon two other artisan boutiques, which had never appeared online. What they do is beautiful and they are very open to talk about their craft.
Palazzo Grimani:
- By the campo Santa Maria Formosa, which is in a very authentic area.
- It is the side of Venice that I want to show: more private but just as beautiful.
- I did not go in, lack of time but will visit it next time.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, thanks to this field research and to the intervention that followed (I tested the route with a tourist stakeholder, see here) I realised that most of these locations were either too distant from each other or surrounded by tourist routes. Thus, I decided to redesign it completely based on my newly acquired knowledge and the feedback and advice from my stakeholders and experts.
Creating a New route:
24/06/2021
Following my previous intervention (25/05/2021) where I tested the diamond route with a stakeholder (more information here), and following various conversations with experts, I decided to draw a new itenerary in the Castello district. This time I would make sure to avoid any tourist routes and to offer a very special itinerary.
What it contains:
After walking around the district numerous times and taking into consideration what stakeholder Francesco Loredan had advised me to add to the itinerary I came up with a new alternative.
- The church Santa Maria dei Miracoli
- Legend at the Saint Mark’s Scuola
- The Church San Giovanni e Paolo
- Artisans
- Church San Francesco della Vigna
- Palazzo Grimani
There are more stops than in my previous tours because the area is very rich in culture.
Route Variations:
Version 1:
- The church Santa Maria dei Miracoli
- Legend at the Saint Mark’s Scuola
- The Church San Giovanni e Paolo
- Church San Francesco della Vigna
- Artisans
- Palazzo Grimani
As I was testing the itinerary, I wondered which route I should take from San Francesco della Vigna to the Artisans. I went on a little exploration and found a very scenic way to reach it (From D to E on the map). Furthermore, from A to B is fruit of an exploration of mine, it avoids completely the main road. I even stumbled upon a palace where some scenes of the film Casanova (2007) were shot.
Palace in Casanova
However, I discovered something very surprising while walking under the embellished underpass displayed above. It had ben restored by the international association of the “Cavalieri di San Marco” or “the Knights of San Marco”. This is problematic, as I was not aware that a group of people had resurrected the order and was planning to use their name in the game. I may just have to invent my own knighthood.
Version 2 (lagoon path):
This version is structured like the previous one except that the path to the D stop runs along the lagoon where there is a very good view of the island of San Michele, Venice’s cemetery. I added this alternative because two experts and some other locals had mentioned that the lagoon was Venice’s best feature.
Version 3:
This one has a slightly different structure as it ends with San Francesco della vigna instead of with Palazzo Grimani.
Version 4 (short):
I also designed a shorter tour in case the other one ended up being too long. The church San Francesco della Vergine was removed.
Other:
I used to have a version of this route which included the palazzo del Cammello, which had a very interesting story attached to it but it turned out that it was located in a completely different district. In Venice, Google maps is not always reliable.
Visual documentation of the stops:
San Giovanni e Paolo Church:
Scuola di San Giovanni (legend):
Santa Maria dei Miracoli:
San Francesco della Vigna:
Artisan Shops:
Papier Mâché
Schegge:
Palazzo Grimani:
Choosing a different Venetian Legend:
5/07/2021
I want to include a Venetian legend to the tour. I used to have settled on a legend attached to the Scuola di San Marco’s entrance, as one can notice strange carvings of ships and of a levantine holding a heart. However, I realised that it would not be practical as it would involve getting very close to the entrance, which is guarded by security guards, and may create congestion.
Luckily, I soon realised that there was another legend already located in the route under the sottoportego della Corte Nova. Indeed, there is an unusual red stone.
The New legend:
Rumour has it that in 1630 a woman named Giovanna, who lived in the Sestiere di Castello, had a vision of the Madonna who recommended her, that to overcome the plague to paint a painting representing her image together with Saints Rocco, Sebastian, and Justina. To exhibit it on the wall of the Sotoportego della Corte Nova. The district was untouched by the disease. And the plague disappeared. The painting also disappeared. But one red stone came to be. It is believed that the plague has sunk into it.
Some Venetians avoid stepping on the stone because it is considered a bearer of misfortune but others think it as a bringer of money and love.