Venice divided into 6 Sestieri

The stately city of Venice, in addition to offering its visitors wide historical vistas full of adventurous itineraries immersed in calli and bridges, manages to amaze tourists through traditional and cultural curiosities unique in the world.

One of the city's most curious notes is represented precisely by the names of the six sestieri or districts into which Venice is divided, symbolically depicted by the six front teeth of the so-called "Ferro da Prua," as the typical front decoration of the gondola.

The "Ferro da Prua" in addition to representing in a stylized manner the main structure of the city, also represents the island of Giudecca, depicted by the rear tooth; the typical "S" shape of the "Ferro da Prua" traces the route of the famous Grand Canal combined with the wide upper volute indicating the Basin of St. Mark and the historic Doge's Horn representing the ancient headgear of the Doge.

The traditional names of the six districts that make up the Serenissima are:

Cannareggio: so called because of its ancient morphological conformation characterized by marshes and reeds;

Castello: so named because of the presence of a fortification around which the Castello area developed;

Dorsoduro: its name recalls the geomorphological conformation that once characterized this place full of sand dunes;

Santa Croce: represents the smallest, by extension, of the six sestieri of Venice;

San Marco: represents the heart of the city of Venice and its name derives from St. Mark's Basilica;

San Polo (Campo San Polo): located in the center of the entire Venetian island.

The island of Giudecca (formerly known as Spina Longa because of its elongated fish-bone shape), on the other hand, is a collection of small islets connected by numerous bridges.