NORTH MEETS EAST

mythical figure of St George fighting the Dragon, and the portrait of St Augustine as a true humanist scholar sitting in his studio, surrounded by books and objects. You’ll learn about whom inspired this fascinating canvas. and to which historical events it is connected.

We then reach the Rialto Bridge, the social and business core of the German community dating from the Middle Ages.

By the foot of the Bridge is the German Catholic Church, St Bartholomew, for which Albrecht Durer painted his “Virgin of the Rosary” (now in Prague).

Just past the Rialto Bridge the imposing mass of the German Fondaco, warehouse as well as trading center, still dominates the area.

The Fondaco (from the Arabic funduq, meaning ‘hotel’), was rebuilt at the beginning of the 16th century and was once frescoed by Giorgione and Titian, evokes the days in which Venice held the monopoly on the spice trade and imported silk and cotton fabrics, pigments and more.

The Germans brought metals, weapons, and machineries of all kinds. They were also active as bakers and jewelers. A flourishing commerce of artworks, precious objects and antiques rotated around the northern community in Venice.

The huge white limestone building, once vividly frescoed,
still beautiful and solid, was recently transformed into a shopping mall! The view from the new roof-terrace  is absolutely breathtaking.