Canals of Venice Site Plan and Features

The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal curves through the historic centre from the railway-station area to the basin beside Santa Maria della Salute. It is Venice's principal water-traffic corridor and is lined with palaces, churches, warehouses and civic buildings from different periods. Four bridges cross it: Rialto, Scalzi, Accademia and Costituzione.

Smaller canals

Smaller canals, or rii, separate the built islands and connect neighbourhoods with the wider lagoon network. Some follow older tidal channels; others were modified, narrowed, filled or reinforced as the city developed. Their walls and canal beds require continuing maintenance.

Boats on the canals

ACTV vaporetti provide scheduled public transport on the larger waterways. Private water taxis, work boats, emergency craft, delivery vessels, gondolas and the small traghetti that cross the Grand Canal use the network for different purposes. A vaporetto is a public water bus, not a water taxi.