Castello is the largest of the six

sestieri of Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Italy.

History

There had been, since at least the 8th-century, small settlements of the islands of

San Pietro di Castello San Pietro di Castello (), formerly Olivolo (; ), is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy, forming part of the Castello sestiere. It is linked to the main islands of Venice by two bridges. History The island was the site of a castl ...

(for which the sestiere is named). This island was also called Isola d'Olivolo. From the thirteenth century onward, the district grew around a

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involve ...

on what was originally the Isole Gemini (Corresponding to

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

and San Martino). The land in the district was dominated by the ''

Arsenale The Venetian Arsenal () is a complex of former shipyards and armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Venetian Republic's naval power from the Late ...

'' of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, then the largest naval complex in Europe. A Greek mercantile community numbering around 5,000 in the Renaissance and late Middle Ages was based in this district, with the

Flanginian School The Flanginian School (; ) was a Greek educational institution that operated in Venice, Italy, from 1664–1665 to 1905. The Flanginian produced several teachers who contributed to the modern Greek Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. Ba ...

and the Greek Orthodox Church of

San Giorgio dei Greci San Giorgio dei Greci () is a church in the ''sestiere'' (neighborhood) of Castello, Venice, northern Italy. It was the center of the Scuola dei Greci, the Confraternity of the Greeks in Venice. Around this period there was a similar church in Na ...

being located here, of which the former comprises the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in VeniceGreece: Books and Writers (PDF). Ministry of Culture — National Book Centre of Greece. 2001. p. 54. . and the latter is now the seat of the

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy (and Malta from until the creation of the Exarchate of Malta in 2021), officially the Sacred Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Exarchate of Southern Europe (), is a diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate o ...

. Other significant structures were by the

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

in the north of the quarter.

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

closed the Arsenal and planned what are now the Bienniale Gardens. More recently the island of

Sant'Elena Sant'Elena may refer to: * Sant'Elena (island), an island of Venice, Italy * Sant'Elena, Rome, a church in Rome, Italy * Sant'Elena, Venice Sant'Elena, also sometimes called ''Santa Lena'', is a Gothic architecture, Gothic-style, Roman Cathol ...

has been created, and more land drained at other extremities of Castello.

Landmarks

Prominent sites and buildings in Castello include: * Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (San Zanipoli) *Church of

Campo Santa Maria Formosa Campo Santa Maria Formosa is a city square in the Castello, Venice, Castello district of Venice, Italy. Buildings around the square *Chiesa di Santa Maria Formosa *Palazzo Priuli Ruzzini Loredan *Palazzo Morosini del Pestrin *Palazzi Donà *Casa ...

and Church of

Santa Maria Formosa Santa Maria Formosa, formally The Church of the Purification of Mary, is a church in Venice, northern Italy. It was erected in 1492 under the design by Renaissance architect Mauro Codussi. It lies on the site of a previous church dating from the ...

*Church and

Ospedale della Pietà The Ospedale della Pietà was a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice. Like other Venetian ''ospedali'', the Pietà was first established as a hospice for the needy. A group of Venetian nuns, called the Consorelle di Santa Maria dell’Um ...

Church of San Zaccaria The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice. It is a large edifice located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is dedicated ...

*Church of San Giovanni di Malta *Scuola of

San Giorgio degli Schiavoni The Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice, northern Italy, was one of the city's confraternity, confraternities, a Scuole Piccole of Venice, scuola piccola located in the sestiere (neighborhood) of Castello, Venice. Its building has bee ...

Scuola di San Marco The Scuola Grande di San Marco is a building in Venice, Italy, designed by the well-known Venetian architects Pietro Lombardo, Mauro Codussi, and Bartolomeo Bon. It was originally the home to one of the Scuole Grandi of Venice, or six major conf ...

Venetian Arsenal The Venetian Arsenal () is a complex of former shipyards and Armory (military), armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Republic of Venice, Venetian ...

* Church of Sant'Elena *

Palazzo Malipiero-Trevisan Palazzo Malipiero-Trevisan is a Renaissance palace in Venice, Italy located in the Castello district, on the south-eastern side of campo Santa Maria Formosa and separated from it by the Santa Maria Formosa river (entry is through a private bridg ...

Palazzo Vitturi Palazzo Vitturi is a palace in Venice, Italy located in the Castello district, on the north-eastern side of Campo Santa Maria Formosa, of which the palazzo is the oldest building. The palace is mentioned in the works of Sansovino. History Palaz ...

Palazzo Zorzi Bon Palazzo Zorzi Bon is a historic palace in Venice located in the Castello district. The building inspired the book ''The Zorzi Affair'' by the American writer Sylva Prince. Architecture The palace has four levels. Squeezed between Palazzo Zorzi G ...

References

{{Reflist Sestieri of Venice

History

Landmarks

See also

References