Castello is the largest of the six sestieri. The district grew up from the thirtheenth century around the arsenale...

The church of San Pietro di Castello is of great importance for the history of Venice: seat of the Bishop dependent on the patriarchate of Grado from 775 until 1451, then cathedral and patriarchal seat until 1807 - when the title passed to San Marco - San Pietro rises on the ancient island of Olivolo, now Castello, in that which was the first inhabited settlement and the first religious, political and commercial center of the city. In the interior of the church we find the so-called Cathedra of St. Peter, traditionally considered the seat of the Saint in Antioch. We particularly note the High Altar in engraved polychrome marble, executed on a design by Baldassare Longhena. From here, following a route characterized by the seething of the market and of the daily life of the Venetians, we come to Campo Santa Maria Formosa, one of the largest and liveliest in the city, where we find the church of the same name. The church of Santa Maria Formosa, as legend has it, was ordered to be built by San Magno in 639, and was later restructured, beginning in 1492, by Mauro Cordussi, becoming his greatest work. The interior, linear and of great equilibrium, in the fullest Renaissance style, hosts works of great interest such as Bartolomeo Vivarini's Triptych of Mercy, and the Polyptych of St. Barbara by Palma il Vecchio.