Riva degli Schiavoni:

Venice's Principal Waterfront

 Riva degli Schiavoni from the San Marco Basin pmphoto - FOTOLIA

The Riva degli Schiavoni is Venice’s principal waterfront. Its promenade, which is cluttered by numerous kiosks bars and restaurants, attracts vast crowds of tourists.

The Riva degli Schiavoni offers superb views of the impressive Palladian architecture which dominates the skyline of San Giorgio, the island located immediately to its south.

View of the island of San Giorgio from the Riva degli Schiavoni © John Melson - FOTOLIA

The Riva degli Schiavoni was built on silt dredged from the bed of the Grand Canal during the 9th century. It is named after the Slav merchants (Schiavoni) who delivered meat and fish to its numerous wharves.

The Riva degli Schiavoni commences outside the Doges Palace; it then crosses the Rio del Palazzo via the Ponte della Paglia (bridge of straw), so-called because animal fodder was once carried ashore there.

Ponte della Paglia, July 2003, picture by FlorianK. Image published under GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2 or later

The Ponte della Paglia is a popular tourist location being the best place from which to photograph the Bridge of Sighs, thirty metres upstream, which connects the Doges Palace to the Palazzo dei Prigioni.

Lord Byron gave the bridge its name after witnessing the sighs of the convicted prisoners who were lead across it to the city’s jail.

The Bridge of Sighs, as seen from the Ponte della Paglia © Darren Green - FOTOLIA

The palace next to the old prision is the exclusive Danieli Hotel, formerly the home of the aristocratic Dandolo family.

A bland modern extension was added to this magnificent Byzantine palace during the fifties. It was the first structure above a single storey permitted on the site since the assassination of Doge Vitale Michiel II in 1172. The doge died nearby after being attacked from an upstairs window.

After the Danieli, the Riva degli Schiavoni bridges the Rio del Vin and continues past a grandiose cluster of bronze statues (1885) sculpted by Ettore Ferrari in honour of Vittorio Emmanuele, who in 1861 became the first king of the newly unified Italian state.

The church of Santa Maria della Visitazione, better known as La Pietà, lies beyond this monument. It was formerly the parish church of Antonio Vivaldi, who composed and performed many of his most famous works there.

The Pietà is also notable for the 19^th century sculpture of the Madonna and Child above its doorway. This statue by E. Marsili abandons the traditional depiction of Christ majestically  seated on the Madonna's lap in favour of a helpless baby, affectionately seeking his mother's embrace.

A 16th century inscription in the Calle di Pietà, which runs along the eastern side of the church, warns the fathers of illegitimate children not to abandon their offspring to the care of the church merely in order to avoid the cost of their maintenance.

 Venice, Riva degli Schiavoni, view from the Doge's Palace, picture by Maria Schnitzmeier, 20.07.05. Image published under GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or later

The Riva degli Schiavoni ends and the Riva Ca' di Dio begins after the promenade bridges the canale Ca' di Dio. The waterfront then curves gently eastwards towards the Giardini, the venue of the Venice Art Festival.

© 2006 LACT Limited. All rights reserved.

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