Venice isn’t just made of canals – it’s made of secrets. Many are easy to discover if you know where to look. On this walking tour through Castello’s back streets, you’ll discover a part of the city that flourished for more than 1,000 years, thanks to its naval, military, artistic, and commercial genius. Even Venetians sometimes stop in this neighbourhood and say, “I never noticed that before!” The tour begins in front of Museo Storico Navale di Venezia (the Naval Museum) in this neighborhood flanking the Arsenal, where thousands of craftsmen built the ships that made Venice rich, powerful, and feared. This part of the city was very working class, and as you walk, I’ll point out memorials to famous explorers, the spoils from foreign conquests, curious inscriptions, and other traces of the city’s seafaring heritage. You’ll pass through little pockets of daily life, from the quaint Campo do Pozzi square, to Liceo Scientifico, a bustling high school in a converted church. You’ll stroll around Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo church before finishing the tour in front of a 17th-century boatyard that faces Chiesa di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti (the Church of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti). On this 75-minute Venice walking tour, you’ll have the chance to: • Meet Bartolomeo Colleoni, whose bronze equestrian statue trumpets his prowess as Venice’s greatest mercenary captain • Relax in the tranquil cloister of San Francesco della Vigna, a charming Catholic church designed by architect Andrea Palladio who famously made churches look like ancient Greek or Roman temples • Discover the carved memorial to Saint Barbara and the guild of bombardiers who made iron cannons • Spot centuries-old plaques that recall disastrous plagues, which were an inevitable risk in a crowded seaport city with over 100,000 inhabitants • Stop by Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, the church where a runaway elephant sought refuge • Decipher the runes chiseled into Piraeus Lion, the marble lion that guards the Campo de l’Arsenal (Arsenal Square) • Learn about the historical threat of catastrophic fires in Venice, despite the city being surrounded by water, and find out how Venetians managed their freshwater supply By the end of this tour, you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the ingenuity behind Venetian life – in the past as well as today – in a part of the city that’s far from the crowds of Piazza San Marco.