Venice East Castello Walking Tour - Arsenal & San Francesco della Vigna Exteriors

Walk the Castello waterfront and lanes
to discover eastern Venice

This 2-hour walking tour starts at the Church of the Pietà, closely tied to Vivaldi, and ends at Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. With an English-speaking guide, you explore the quieter eastern district: its waterfront promenade, the shipbuilding area, and calm churches and lanes. It is an outdoor walking tour, so you do not go inside buildings.

Walk past the Pietà church and along Riva degli Schiavoni

The Baroque church of Santa Maria della Pietà is known as the place where composer Antonio Vivaldi worked. After seeing the church exterior, you stroll along Riva degli Schiavoni, one of Venice’s best waterfront promenades, with views of the lagoon.

Reach the Arsenal and quiet residential streets

See the Venetian Arsenal, the shipbuilding center that once made Venice a powerful maritime republic. Then pass the church of San Martino in a residential area away from the crowds, and the Scuola Dalmata dei Santi Giorgio e Trifone, famous for its series of paintings by Vittore Carpaccio.

Pass San Francesco della Vigna and finish at Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Walk through narrow streets and under Sotoportego de la Pietra Rossa to San Francesco della Vigna, a Renaissance church linked to Jacopo Sansovino and Andrea Palladio. The tour ends at Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, surrounded by a grand basilica and historic buildings.