The real, lived-in Venice at the tail of the fish: a working-class high street, the first cathedral and the quiet parkland of Sant'Elena.
Last updated August 14, 2026
In a nutshell: at the far end of Castello, Via Garibaldi is a genuine neighbourhood street of trattorias and cicchetti bars, Sant'Elena is a placid 1920s garden suburb, and the islet of San Pietro di Castello was Venice's cathedral until 1807. Back to the Castello overview or the Arsenale.
Leaving the Doge's Palace behind, a ten-minute stroll along the Riva and past the Arsenale brings you to 'the tail' of Venice and the wonderfully lived-in neighbourhood centred on Via Garibaldi. The wide street started life as a canal; today it is the backbone of a real neighbourhood, humming with locals, friendly trattorias and cicchetti bars. Stroll its entire length and you will find genuine shops instead of souvenir stalls, alleys hung with washing that flaps like flags, kids playing, prices that make sense. Halfway along on the right, an imposing gated entrance opens into Giardino Garibaldi, running past a classic florist's shop that doubles as a café-bar towards the Giardini Pubblici and the park's vaporetto stop. Some fifty yards further on, at the street's far end, one of the last produce boats in the lagoon is moored, doing brisk business in the mornings. From the last bridge, glance left: the enormous walls protecting the Arsenale loom behind the houses.
Further out still, in the far tip of the fish-tail, Sant'Elena is even less touched by tourism. Reach it on foot, or ride vaporetto line 1 all the way out to Sant'Elena. The century-old suburb carries on as if tourism did not exist, with a park for children, a handful of unhurried restaurants and glorious sunsets looking back towards San Marco.
The only church Napoleon did not touch in his plans for restructuring the area - also because it remained the patriarchal seat until 1808 - is the church of San Pietro di Castello, on a charming little island at the extreme edge of the sestiere. To reach it, turn back and walk along Viale Garibaldi, a wide street of a decidedly popular character that branches off to the left just after the bridge connecting Riva San Biagio to Riva dei Sette Martiri; it is full of shops, but also of small cafés and osterie where you can sit for a drink or a cicheto. Continue along the Fondamenta di Sant'Anna, on the right of the canal of the same name, cross the second bridge on the left and go straight on to Campo Ruga, where, when the sun shines, the locals hang their washing on long ropes stretched from one side to the other, so that you have to walk right through the middle of it. Going straight on along the Salizzada Stretta, turn at the end to the right into Calle Larga San Pietro, and at the calle's far end you find yourself on a long wooden bridge from which you can finally admire the church and its leaning campanile.
Until 1807 the Basilica di San Pietro di Castello served as Venice's cathedral; it was Napoleon who decided that St Mark's Basilica - until then merely the doge's private chapel - made a more fitting seat for the bishop. The islet, first known as Olivolo, was among the earliest inhabited spots in the city core, and the church dates its foundation to the 7th century, serving as a Byzantine bishopric from 775; mosaic fragments from a 5th-century Roman dwelling discovered under the Lando Chapel attest to the antiquity of the site. Palladio drew the first plans for the present building, with its classical front and great dome, but a protégé completed it in modified form in the 1620s; the graceful leaning campanile of white Istrian stone predates the church, designed by Mauro Codussi in the 15th century. The oddest object inside is St Peter's Throne, which legend holds was used by the Apostle in Antioch and once concealed the Holy Grail - a story with all the makings of a thriller and about as much historical credibility. The intricately carved back panel is in fact a recycled Muslim tombstone bearing inscriptions from the Koran, an incongruous ornament for a Christian sanctuary. Baldassare Longhena's marble high altar is also worth a look. Entry is €3.50 (€2.50 reduced, free with the Chorus Pass).
Sant'Elena, the island district at Castello's eastern tip, feels utterly unlike the rest of Venice - understandably, since most of it rises from swamp reclaimed while shipping channels were cut in the early 20th century; the neighbourhood took shape in the 1920s as a placid residential quarter of apartment blocks that deliberately imitate the city's historic architecture. The Parco delle Rimembranze, on the lagoon side, began as a memorial grove - every umbrella pine initially stood for a soldier fallen in WWI - and now offers a playground, a basketball court and abundant shade. A canal divides the residential half from the island's older section, home to a 16th-century church, the naval school, marinas and the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, where Venezia FC - the Leoni Alati, or Winged Lions - won promotion back to Serie A in 2024 and became hometown heroes.