Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, Venice

Via Giuseppe Garibaldi is a broad, straight street in Castello, created in 1807 by filling a canal and laid out for public strolling. It is Venice’s only street called a “via,” and it remains a busy commercial meeting point for this district. Giannantonio Selva directed the project for Napoleon, with several churches, convents, and the sailors’ hospital beside San Nicolò di Castello demolished to clear the route.

The street originally led to the public gardens and was later called Via Eugenia, honouring Eugène de Beauharnais. At the waterfront corner, Palazzo Caboto recalls the explorers John and Sebastian Cabot, whose voyages to North America are commemorated by two plaques on the façade. The street reaches towards San Pietro di Castello, the city’s cathedral until 1807. Between 1993 and 1996, its paving was renewed according to Selva’s original plan.