Orientation

Venice is the capital of the Veneto Region of Northeastern Italy. Veneto lies in the Northern Italian Plain which is fairly flat and protected from the cold by the Alps. Venice consists of about 118 bits of land built upon a lagoon connected to the main land through water ways. There are no roads an hence you cannot bring vehicles within the city. Butthere are parking lots across the Lagoon from where you can use other means of water transport. There are 410 bridges and about 150 canals.

The city is divided into six quarters or sestieri. Cannaregio, Castello, San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo and Santa Croce. A street is called a calle, the little side streets can be called caletta or ramo; a street beside a canal is called a fondamenta; a canal is a rio; and a street which follows the course of a filled-in rio is a ria terrà. Where a street passes under a building or an archway it is called a sottoportego. The only square in Venezia called a piazza is San Marco, all the others are called a campo.

It is easy to lose orientation in Venice. However it is nothing to worry about. Simply set out in the general direction of your destination and wind your way around the small channels.

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