La Giudecca Venice

One of the historic neighborhoods of Venice, La Giudecca is formed by a series of islands all connected between them by big and small size bridges overlooking the canal, which carries its name – Canale della Giudecca. The area was once known as Spinalunga, describing the spine of rocky outcropping that makes up the islands. In recent times La Giudecca has been growing thanks to land reclaimation: the Sacca Fisola, placed on the western side of the Laguna. La Giudecca is located south of Venice and is a nice, peaceful residential area, lacking of all the noisy tourists roaming around the downtown areas. In fact it is one of the few places in Venice that truly still belongs to the Venitians! The long pier, located on the north side, facing the city, forms an avenue on which is very pleasant to take a stroll watching the beautiful sea sights of Venice.

La Giudecca gets it's curious name possibly from Jewish merchants that lived here in the 12th and 13th centuries. However the area was never a Ghetto, like other Giudecca neighborhoods of Southern Italy and until the early 16th century, Jews could live throughout Venice. A competing theory on the origin of the name may have been a corruption of a term for tanneries and tanning leather, in the Venetian dialect. The earliest residents certainly were not wealthy and may have been fishermen. Later centuries saw the wealthy build the early grand palazzi of Venice here. It was an area rich with flower and vegetable gardens and a perfect place to evade from the busy city center. Over time Giudecca turned into a degraded area, almost a an ill-famed slum with narrow alleys and neglected buildings. Some decades ago, it started to flourish again thanks to the construction of state-of-the-art residential areas and the rescue of some abandoned industrial areas making it, today, a totally urbanized island.

Spinalonga Island

Today Giudecca is quite possibly the best kept secret in Venice. The industry and shipyards are gone, and the old houses and narrow streets are once again a place to get away from the crowds in San Marco. The beautiful palaces and churches, including the magificent Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore await modern travelers to Venice with rich rewards.