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Names
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Venetians have idiosyncratic names for features of the townscape. A canal is a
rio
, and an alleyway that cuts through a building is a
sottoportico
or
sottoportego
, to give its dialect version. A street in Venice is generally a
calle
, but a major street might be a
ruga
or a
salizzada
, a small street may be a
ramo
, a street alongside a body of water is a
fondamenta
(or a
riva
if it's really big), and a street formed by filling in a canal is customarily a
rio terrA
. A square is usually a
campo
(there's only one Piazza), but it might be a
campiello
if it's tiny, a
piscina
if it was formed by filling in a place where boats used to turn, or a
corte
if it's more of a courtyard than a square.
The Venetian
dialect
version of
proper names
adds a further twist to the visitor's bewilderment. For example, the Italian name Giuseppe here becomes Isepo, Eustachio becomes Stae, and Giovanni becomes Zuan or Zan. Things get even worse when two names appear together - thus Giovanni e Paolo becomes Zanipolo, and Sant'Ermagora e Fortunato somehow becomes San Marcuolo. As a final refinement, the Italian name is often used alongside the dialect name, of which there may be another variant - thus, on the wall outside the naval museum a sign tells you that the spot on which you're standing is called Campo S. Biagio or Campo S. Blasio or Campo S. Biasio. We've generally used the standard Italian names, with the dialect version in brackets wherever it's in common use. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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