Venice Street names: Calle, Campi, Fondamente, Rive & Local Names

Below is a simple guide to all the traditional Venetian street names — explained clearly, with examples you can recognize while exploring the city.

(Local Guide Written by a Venetian)

Venice doesn’t work like any other city in the world.
Here, you won’t find “streets”, “boulevards” or “squares” — the entire city uses its own vocabulary to describe every passage, corner, and open space.

Understanding these Venice street names helps you navigate the city like a real local (and avoids getting lost in the maze of calli).

🏛️ Venice Is Divided Into Six “Sestieri” (Not Districts)

Before talking about calli, you need to know how Venice is divided.

While the rest of the world uses quarters or districts, Venice uses sestieri — literally, the six parts of the historic city:

San Marco — the heart of Venice

Castello — the largest sestiere, more local and residential

Cannaregio — canals, Jewish Ghetto, northern Venice

Dorsoduro — students, museums, arts

Santa Croce — near Piazzale Roma

San Polo — markets, Rialto area

Each sestiere has its own character, traditions, and tiny neighbourhoods inside.

When you see an address in Venice, the house number belongs to the entire sestiere, not to a single street — another unique detail that confuses many visitors.

🛤️ The Main Types of Streets in Venice

Calle — The Typical Venetian Street

Calle = the standard street of Venice.

Most of the city is made of calli—sometimes wide, sometimes extremely narrow, sometimes only 50 cm wide.

Types you may see:

Calle Larga → wide street

Calle Stretta → narrow street

Calle Lunga → long straight street

Calle Corta → short street

Some are so tight that you must pass sideways — and yes, Venice has the narrowest calle in the city, hidden in Castello.

Ramo — A Small Side Street

A ramo is a “branch” of a main calle.
Short, quiet, usually leading to a private entrance, corte, or dead end.

Ruga — The Historic Shopping Street

A ruga is wider than a calle and traditionally full of shops or market stalls.

Famous examples:

Ruga Rialto

Ruga Giuffa

Historically, they were the commercial arteries of Venice.

Seco — A Street Where Water Once Flowed

“Seco” literally means dry.
In Venice it indicates an area where a small canal or waterway once existed but later disappeared naturally.

This is not a rio terà (where a canal was intentionally filled):
a secco is usually a naturally dried canal, an old drainage channel, or a water line that shifted over centuries.

You still find it in Castello and Cannaregio — rare and very old toponyms.

Examples include:

Seco Marina (Castello)

Seco Muro

These names preserve the memory of how the lagoon has changed over time.

Paludo — A Former Marshland Area

“Paludo” comes from palude (marsh).
It marks a place that was once marshy or semi-submerged, later reclaimed and built over.

Many parts of Venice were originally marshland, consolidated with wooden piles and layers of clay.

A name with Paludo means:

soft or muddy land in the past

an area outside the original main settlements

early urban expansion zones

Typical examples:

Paludo S. Antonio

Paludo dei Greci

These names are among the most ancient in Venice.

Rio Terà — A Canal That Was Filled In

“Rio Terà” means filled-in canal.
Between the 18th and 19th centuries, Venice buried many minor canals to create more walkable streets.

A rio terà looks like a normal street today, but underneath it… there is still a canal, filled with earth and stones.

They are usually wide and straight, because they follow the old water path.

Famous examples include:

Rio Terà degli Assassini

Rio Terà S. Isepo

Rio Terà Farsetti

Walking on a rio terà means walking on top of history — literally above a vanished canal.

Salizzada — One of the First Paved Streets

Before Venice was fully paved, only a few main routes had stones.
These were called salizzade — the oldest paved urban paths.

You can still walk on:

Salizzada San Lio

Salizzada del Fontego dei Tedeschi

They’re wider and straight, easier to navigate.

Fondamenta — A Street Along a Canal

Fondamenta = a walkway with water on one side.

Perfect for quiet walks, photography, and sunsets.

Every fondamenta was literally the “foundation” for the buildings facing the canal.

Daily life in Venice: the green waste-collection boat working along a fondamenta.

Riva — A Wide Waterfront Promenade

Bigger than a fondamenta, usually open and panoramic.

The most famous:

Riva degli Schiavoni, near San Marco.

Riva dei Sette Martiri at dusk — one of Venice’s most scenic waterfronts.

Barbaria — A Historic Working-Class Street Name

A Barbaria is a very old Venetian street name, found only in a few areas of the city.

It does not refer to “barbarians”.
The word probably comes from the Venetian barbeto / barbaresco — a place where animals and goods passed or were kept — or, according to other sources, from the many barbers who once worked there.

Barbarie were often busy, working-class zones full of small shops and daily life.

Famous examples:

Barbaria delle Tole (Castello)

Barbaria de le Gate

Via — A Modern Street Name (Very Rare in Venice)

Unlike most cities, Venice almost never uses the word via (“street”).

The few via names you see today were introduced in the 19th and 20th centuries, when some areas were redesigned or filled in.

The most famous are:

Via Garibaldi — a long, wide street created by filling a canal in the 1800s

Via XXII Marzo — a modern shopping street near San Marco

These are the exceptions in a city where almost every path has a name deeply connected to Venetian history.

🏞️ Squares & Open Spaces in Venice

Campo — The Venetian Square

Venice has no “piazze”.
Only one piazza exists: Piazza San Marco.

Everything else is a campo — the traditional Venetian square.

Many campi still have:

the old stone well

market stalls

children playing (Venetian childhood happens in campi)

Examples:

Campo Santa Margherita

Campo San Giacomo dell’Orio

Campiello — A Small Square

Smaller than a campo, more intimate, usually residential.

Corte — A Courtyard

An enclosed or semi-enclosed courtyard often reachable through a small sottoportego.

Some corti still preserve ancient wells and beautiful architecture.

🕳️ Hidden Passages & Unique Places

Sotoportego (or Sottoportico) — Passage Under a Building

A classic Venetian element: a walkway passing under a building.

Many are:

dark

narrow

20 – 40 meters long

connecting unexpected areas of the city

One of the most unusual and atmospheric experiences in Venice.

Sotoportego in Castello, with the historical plaque marking the birthplace of Giambattista Tiepolo.

Calle Cieca — Blind Alley

A street that ends abruptly in a private door or wall.

Venice has many — some only discovered by accident.

🌉 Ponte — The Bridge That Connects the Islands

A ponte is the quintessential symbol of Venice.
Unlike other cities, bridges here aren’t just scenic — they are the only way to walk from one island to another.

Venice is made of 121 small islands, all separated by canals.
To connect them, the city has 435 bridges (only four of them cross the Grand Canal).

Bridges come in different styles:

Ponte in pietra → classic stone bridges

Ponte in ferro → elegant iron bridges from the 1800s

Ponte in legno → simple wooden bridges, often in quieter areas

Most bridges have steps, which is why moving heavy luggage can be challenging. A few modern bridges have ramps, but Venice remains a city built long before wheels.

Some bridges lead to hidden campi and corti, while others — like Rialto or Accademia — became iconic landmarks.
Each ponte is literally a connection between islands, and walking over them is the only way to experience Venice properly.