 Aerial view of the Riva degli Schiavoni | |
| Part of | Castello, Venice |
|---|---|
| Length | 850 m (2,790 ft) |
| Postal code | 30122 |
| Coordinates | 45°26′02″N12°20′42″E / 45.43389°N 12.34500°E |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | 9th century |
The Riva degli Schiavoni is a monumental waterfront in Venice. It is located in the sestiere of Castello and extends along the San Marco basin in the stretch from the Ponte della Paglia bridge, close to the Doge's Palace to the rio di Ca' di Dio.
The building of the shore begun probably as early as the 9th century [1] and had its first expansion in 1060 with the draining of a marshy area. In 1324 the riva was paved for the first time, using terracotta paving. The shore was originally much narrower than the current one, being slightly wider than the Ponte della Paglia, as can also be seen from Jacopo de' Barbari 's plan of the 1500s and from countless paintings, prints and engravings. The enlargement to the current size was only deliberated in 1780 and finished in 1782.
It was named for the Slavic merchants from Dalmatia, which in the days of the Republic of Venice was also called Slavonia or Schiavonia, who brought cargo to Venice from across the Adriatic Sea and landed here with their merchant ships and also had their trading stalls. The riva formed an integral part of the commercial port of Venice and was of very considerable importance due to its proximity to Piazza san marco and the center of Venetian political power.
There are other landmarks named after the early Slav merchants such as Palazzo Schiavoni, Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, and a naval detachment of oltremarini, a mercenary group of Slavs either from the Montenegrin or Dalmatian litoral who as uskoks decided to join the Republic of Venice and fight a common enemy in the Candian Wars. Also, today Schiavone is a common Italian surname. In Italian schiavona is a basket-hilted sword.
In 1172 on the Riva at the entrance to Calle delle Rasse, Marco Cassolo stabbed Doge Vitale II Michiel who was on his way to the nearby church of San Zaccaria for Easter celebrations. Captured immediately, Cassolo was tried, convicted and executed, and the Senate resolved that his house, which was located on the Riva at the very spot of the attack, should be razed to the ground and forbade its reconstruction in stone in perpetuity, allowing only one-story wooden dwellings to be built. [2] The route the doge had to take to reach the church of San Zaccaria was also changed: no longer along the Riva degli Schiavoni but internally through the campo dei santi Filippo e Giacomo. The ban on stone construction was respected until 1948, when the wooden houses were torn down and replaced by the current modern wing of the Hotel Danieli.
During Austrian rule, in 1851 Alderman Bembo presented a plan for the construction of a city bathing establishment in San Marco Basin. The project, commissioned from the architects Fisola and Cadorin, called for the doubling in width of the Schiavoni bank, with the construction of a second row of buildings, for the time modern, facing the San Marco basin, as well as the doubling of the Ponte della Paglia, Ponte del rio di Vin, Ponte dei Greci and ponte della Ca' di Dio bridges. The project, highly controversial because of its very heavy impact, was later finally rejected in 1854 by the provincial delegate. [3]
Today it is a promenade and one of Venice's most famous streets.
Several buildings of special historical or architectural significance face the shore. Proceeding in the direction from the Palazzo Ducale toward the arsenal, they are encountered in order:
The Doge's Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice. It was built in 1340 and extended and modified in the following centuries. It became a museum in 1923 and is one of the 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.
Cannaregio is the northernmost of the six historic sestieri (districts) of Venice. It is the second largest sestiere by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people as of 2007.
The Grand Canal is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.
San Giorgio, is the Italian form of Saint George. When used as the name of a person it is frequently contracted to Sangiorgio.
The House of Contarini is one of the founding families of Venice and one of the oldest families of the Italian Nobility. In total eight Doges to the Republic of Venice emerged from this family, as well as 44 Procurators of San Marco, numerous ambassadors, diplomats and other notables. Among the ruling families of the republic, they held the most seats in the Great Council of Venice from the period before the Serrata del Maggior Consiglio when Councillors were elected annually to the end of the republic in 1797. The Contarini claimed to be of Roman origin through their patrilineal descendance of the Aurelii Cottae, a branch of the Roman family Aurelia, and traditionally trace their lineage back to Gaius Aurelius Cotta, consul of the Roman Republic in 252 BC and 248 BC.
Ponte is the 5th rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. V, and is located in Municipio I. Its name comes from Ponte Sant'Angelo, which connects Ponte with the rione of Borgo. This bridge was built by Emperor Hadrian in 134 AD to connect his mausoleum to the rest of the city. Though Pope Sixtus V changed the rione limits, so that the bridge belongs now to Borgo, not to Ponte anymore, the area has kept its name and a bridge as its coat of arms.
Regola is the 7th rione of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. VII, and belongs to the Municipio I. The name comes from Arenula, which was the name of the soft sand that the river Tiber left after the floods, and that built strands on the left bank.
Luca Carlevarijs or Carlevaris was an Italian painter and engraver working mainly in Venice. He pioneered the genre of the cityscapes (vedute) of Venice, a genre that was later widely followed by artists such as Canaletto and Francesco Guardi.
Castello is the largest of the six sestieri of Venice, Italy.
Palazzo Mangiapane or Palace of Two Towers or Palazzo Navager is a Gothic style palace located on the Riva degli Schiavoni #4145 in the sestiere of Castello, Venice, adjacent to the Ponte del Sepolcro, previously called the Bridge of Ca'Navager. It is best known for being the home, for about five years, of the poet Petrarch.
The Venice Marathon is a marathon road race that has been held each year in Venice since 1986, usually in October. The course starts in Stra and passes through Mestre, Parco San Giuliano, and Ponte della Libertà before ending at Riva dei Sette Martiri in Venice. The marathon is categorized as a Bronze Label Road Race by World Athletics.
The Palazzo Contarini-Sceriman, also called Palazzo Seriman ai Gesuiti is a 14th-century palace in the Sestiere of Cannaregio of Venice, Italy. It is located near the church of the Gesuiti.
Paolo De Grandis is an Italian contemporary art curator and president of PDG Arte Communications. He lives currently in Venice.
Ludovico or Lodovico Cadorin was an Italian architect, active in Northern Italy, mainly around Venice and the Veneto.
Teodoro Francesco Maria Gasparo Correr was a Venetian abbot and art collector, most notable as the founder of the Museo Correr.
The House ofMòro is a patrician family of the Republic of Venice and one of the founding families of the city in 421.
This is an alphabetical index of people, places, things, and concepts related to or originating from the Republic of Venice. Feel free to add more, and create missing pages.
Media related to Riva degli Schiavoni at Wikimedia Commons