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The Giudecca Canal (Canale della Giudecca) is one of the major canals flowing through the UNESCO World Heritage city of Venice, Italy. It splits the Dorsoduro district in half, dividing Dorsoduro from the island of Giudecca.
The canal is four kilometers long. It’s also very wide, from between 244 meters to 450 meters, and up to 12 meters deep, allowing for larger vessels to pass through the city.
This entry is about a vaporetto ride we took through the Giudecca Canal from the Zattere to San Zaccaria ferry terminals in Castello.
Giudecca
After leaving the Zattere terminal, we had a good view of Giudecca, which we didn’t have a chance to visit.
The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer (Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore) was the most prominent landmark we could spot. It was designed by Andrea Palladio and built between 1577 and 1592 as a thanks to God for delivering Venice from a devastating plague in 1575-76 that killed 46,000 people (up to 30% of its population).
Jesuit Church
As we approached Giudecca we were able to look back at the main part of Dorsoduro to see the Jesuit Church (Chiesa dei Gesuati), built between 1725 and 1743. The official name is the Church of Saint Mary of the Rosary (Chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario).
Towards San Marco
The canal started to open up an we were able to see a few more landmarks. The dome of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute was on the left with Saint Mark’s Campanile behind it.
On the right, we could see the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore (Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore) and the Church of Santa Maria della Presentazione (Chiesa di Santa Maria della Presentazione). San Giorgio Maggiore is another Palladio church built on its own island between 1566 and 1610. Santa Maria della Presentazione, known as Le Zitelle, was built between 1579 and 1586 and is also attributed to Palladio.
Piazza San Marco
A few minutes later, Piazza San Marco came clearly into view with Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore on the other side. To our left was Punta della Dogana, which is an art museum situated in the old customs house of Dogana da Mar, and the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, built between 1631 and 1681. It’s open daily except Tuesdays and the €15 admission (as of August 2023) includes entry to the Palazzo Grassi on the Grand Canal.
The vaporetto started turning towards Castello and passed Piazza San Marco in the process, bringing the Doge’s Palace, Campanile, Saint Mark’s Basilica, the columns, and Clock Tower clearly into view.
Castello
We were then able to see the Riva degli Schiavoni, a waterfront promenade that starts in front of the Doge’s Palace and continues along the Castello district. In the photo below, the red building on the left side is the Dandolo Palace (Palazzo Dandolo), built in the late 14th century by the Dandolo family. It now houses the Hotel Danieli.
As the boat began to dock at San Zaccaria, we got another view of Piazza San Marco and Riva degli Schiavoni, and a silhouette of Santa Maria della Salute.
