Go to the Rialto Market
Go to the Rialto Market. Breathe in all the different scents that ooze from it. The smell is one memory that never goes away. In Venice a food market and particularly the Rialto Market ( Il mercato di Rialto) is not just interesting for foodies, it is also a cultural and everyday life experience you have to experience. The market at the edge of the Rialto canal has been taking place for more than 1000 years Rialto market and is still today a great way to see how real Venetians get their food supplies.
A recent article of La Repubblica, writes:
Rialto no se toca (Rialto is not to be touched) and Mile ani de pescaria non se buta via (Thousands of years of fishing cannot be thrown away). These are the slogans that can be found on the walls of the Rialto market, the oldest in Venice, a place of exchange of goods since 1097. Hosted by the neo-gothic palace of the Pescaria, today the market struggles with the evils of the city on the Lagoon: depopulation and the onslaught of “hit and run” tourism and of course the high water. Which in recent months has repeatedly put the bankers to the test, but they have not thrown in the towel. The market, divided between the Loggia della Pescheria and the Campo de l’Erbaria (Piazza delle Erbe), is still today an essential place for the traveler and the beating heart of a district, Rialto originally Rivo Alto, one of the oldest in the city .
On the walls of the Logge you can still see the minimum lengths of the different fishes, established under the Doge: sardella 7 cm, sea bass 12. On the western bank of the Grand Canal, a stone’s throw from the famous Rialto Bridge, the market can be reached on foot but also thanks to the gondola ferry, which for two euros makes you try the low-cost experience of crossing a canal, the one that connects the district of San Marco with that of San Polo, thanks to the strength of the arms of a gondolier. Most locals still shop from the Mercato di Rialto, from restaurateurs to ordinary folk just stocking their kitchens.
The Rialto market is particularly known as a fish market, but there are plenty of fresh veggies and fruit for sale as well. The chance to see and walk the Rialto Bridge is of course another bonus of the location of the market. If you are able and willing to cook during your stay then this is your place.
