CASTELLO DISTRICT, VENICE

Castello is the largest of the six sestieri of Venice, Italy. From the thirteenth century onward, the district grew around a naval dockyard on what was originally the Isole Gemini, although there had been, since at least the 8th-century, small settlements of the islands of San Pietro di Castello (for which the sestiere is named). This island was also called Isola d'Olivolo. The land in the district was dominated by Arsenale, then the largest naval complex in Europe, and by the monasteries in the north of the quarter. Napoleon closed the Arsenal and planned what are now the Bienniale Gardens, and still more recently the island of Sant'Elena has been created, and land drained at other extremities of the quarter.

WHAT TO SEE

• Island of San Peitro di Castello in Venice Italy
• Ospedale della Pieta in Venice Italy
• Saint Elena Island in Venice Italy
• Scuola Grande di San Marco in Venice Italy
• The Venetian Arsenal in Venice Italy

CHURCHES IN THE CASTELLO DISTRICT

• Basilica di San Giovannid e Paolo in Venice Italy
• San Girogio dei Greci Church in Venice Italy
• San Zaccria Church in Venice Italy
• Santa Maria Formosa Church in Venice Italy