Dorsoduro Venice

Dorsoduro Venice - with its colleges of Art and universities (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia) - has long been home to educators, designers, artists & writers.

Dorsoduro is built on higher, more solid ground than the rest of Venice, and is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water - St. Mark's Basin and both the Giudecca and the Grand Canals.

Also reached by boat or foot, Dorsoduro is one of the six sestieri (a sestieri is a subdivision of a number of Italian towns) of Venice. Its name comes from the Italian for "hard ridge", due to its relatively high (compared to the rest of Venice!), stable land.

The original heart of the area was the Giudecca Canal, along which buildings were constructed from as early as the 6th century AD. By the 11th century, the Dorsoduro settlement had spread to the Grand Canal. Religious buildings built later - including the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute and the Zattere quay - are now its main landmarks.

In the nineteenth century, the famous Accademia (a museum gallery of pre-1800s art) was set up in Dorsoduro, and the Ponte dell'Accademia (a wooden bridge which spans the Grand Canal) linked it to San Marco (Saint Marks), making it a popular area with foreign residents.

Other attractions in the Dorsoduro Venice quarter include the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Palazzo Dario, San Trovaso, San Pantalon, San Nicolò da Tolentino, the Ospedale Giustinian, the Church of San Sebastiano, the Palazzo Ariani, the Palazzo Zenobio, the Church of Santa Maria del Carmelo and Scuola Grande dei Carmini, Campo Santa Margherita, Ca' Foscari, Ca' Rezzonico and Campo San Barnaba.

If you're thinking of staying in Dorsoduro while visiting Venice, why not review our available Dorsoduro Venice Apartments for rent. We currently have 12 beautiful apartments available, and are always adding to our inventory. If you have ANY questions about what to do & see while in Venice (and Dorsoduro), please feel free to contact us by email, phone or Live Chat. We'd love to answer ALL your questions and help you find the PERFECT Dorsoduro Apartment in Venice.

Read our reviews of the best Restaurants of Venice.

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