5 GREAT-TO-KNOW
FACTS ABOUT
GRAND CANAL
VENICEPOUTINE, Canada
French fries, cheese curds and gravy – this is comfort in a dish,
originating in the province of Quebec. Poutine is available from diners
and fast-food stalls, and can be topped with foie gras for a luxury treat.TRAVEL WITH FOODThe Grand Canal was once where the wealthy of Venice had
their palazzi on the waterfront. Today, one of the grandest,
an 18th-century townhouse, Ca’ Rezzonico, is a museum
of 18th-century Venice.
The 16th-century Rialto Bridge is built of white Istrian stone,
and legend has it that Satan only agreed to stop his mischief
with the construction in return for the soul of the first person
to cross the bridge.
Connecting the Doge’s Palace and the New Prison, the 17th-
century Bridge of Sighs was so named by Lord Byron –
he imagined convicted prisoners sighing as they went towards
captivity. Another theory is that the sighs come from lovers
passing in gondolas under the bridge.
St Mark’s Campanile (bell tower) seems romantic, but,
in the 16th century, criminals were left to rot in cages
suspended from the top.
Venice has five ‘plague churches’, one built each time the city
survived an outbreak. The 17th-century Santa Maria della
Salute (above) marks the end of the Grand Canal.
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