The Venice Streets You’ll Never Find on Instagram
/Venice is one of the most photographed cities in the world — yet the city still has corners that remain almost invisible to most visitors. Beyond San Marco and Rialto, there are quiet bridges, shadowed alleys, and lived-in courtyards where Venice shows its truest face.
Here are five places where I return again and again, both as a photographer and as someone who never stops being surprised by this city.
1. Ponte Rielo, Castello
Ponte Rielo takes its name from the Rio Riello and the Fondamenta del Rielo that run alongside it. Built in Istrian stone and restored in 1990, it still carries three carved coats of arms of the Venetian Provveditori di Comun.
But the beauty here is less about the bridge itself and more about the setting. This corner of Castello is calm, authentic, lived-in. Nearby Calle Stella adds its own texture with washing lines strung overhead and facades worn by centuries of salt and sun. For many Venetians, this is one of the most atmospheric hidden corners in the city.
2. Campo San Giacomo dell’Orio, Santa Croce
Today San Giacomo dell’Orio is a lively, green campo where locals gather under the shade of plane trees. But in the 14th and 15th centuries, it was known for something darker: anatomy lessons. By law, cadavers of Venetians were dissected here for the training of medical students — and even barbers, who from 1558 were obliged to attend.
For a time there was even talk of a permanent anatomy theatre on the square. Though never realised in full, the traces linger in the toponyms of the surrounding calli, which still bear the name “dell’anatomia.”
Today it’s hard to imagine that history as you sit with a coffee and watch children playing football across the stones.
3. Cannaregio’s Shadowed Calli
Heading towards the old Ghetto from Strada Nova, you’ll find alleys so narrow the sunlight barely touches the ground. The walls lean close, the calli bend and twist, and the light breaks only in sharp geometric slivers.
This quarter was once one of the most densely inhabited in Venice, and its intimacy is still felt today. For photographers, it’s a place to linger: silhouettes suddenly appear in shafts of light, footsteps echo, and the city feels more like a stage set than a postcard.
I’ve mapped some of my favourite hidden routes through Cannaregio in my Venice guide on Rexby, for anyone who wants to explore further.
4. Corte Botera, Castello
Close to the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo is Corte Botera, a small courtyard tied to one of Venice’s oldest crafts: the coopers, or barrel-makers. Their confraternity existed here as early as 1290, under the protection of the Purification of the Virgin.
The coopers even had a curious duty: they were obliged to repair the Doge’s barrels free of charge, provided the state supplied the hoops, willow ties, and food for the workers.
Centuries later, Corte Botera would gain a different kind of fame: Hugo Pratt set scenes of his graphic-novel hero Corto Maltese here, drawing on the shadows and silences of Castello. Standing in this courtyard, it’s easy to feel both history and fiction alive around you.
5. Fondamenta Vecchia & the Casino degli Spiriti, Cannaregio
At the far end of Fondamenta Vecchia, beyond the Scuola della Misericordia, the city suddenly falls quiet. The lagoon stretches open, San Michele lies on the horizon, and across the water sits the Casino degli Spiriti — the “House of Spirits.”
Once a Renaissance gathering place for painters like Titian and Tintoretto, it later took on darker uses. During outbreaks of plague it was used as a place to hold victims, and over centuries it gathered rumours of ghostly voices and wandering souls. In 1929, the discovery of four headless bodies inside cemented its reputation as one of Venice’s most haunted places.
Whether you believe the stories or not, the view from this quiet fondamenta is extraordinary: Venice suspended between stone, water, and legend.
Venice still hides entire worlds behind its tourist façade. Bridges where coats of arms weather the centuries, squares that once staged anatomy lessons, courtyards tied to lost crafts, and haunted palazzi facing the lagoon.
These are the places I return to with my camera — and the ones I love sharing during my small, immersive photography workshops in Venice.
If you’d like to discover more hidden corners, join over 3,000 readers on my Substack newsletter — every week I share practical tips, stories, and photography insights from Venice and beyond.
And for those who want all my 250+ secret spots in their pocket, explore The Venice I See on Rexby.
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