Venice, San Lio: Top Floor, Five Minutes From St Mark's

In San Lio, between St Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge, an apartment of 115 sq m commercial area (Italian measurement) occupies the top two floors of a sixteenth-century palazzetto overlooking a canal. Across the water lies the sestiere of San Marco: a stone plaque on the bridge, a few steps from the front door, marks where it begins. St Mark’s Square is about five minutes away on foot, the Rialto Bridge six.

A STRATEGIC POSITION
San Lio is a lively, much-frequented salizada on the route from Rialto to San Zaccaria. Two minutes away are the Mercerie, the old merchants’ streets linking Rialto and St Mark’s. In the church of San Lio, a few steps from the house, Canaletto was baptised and buried; inside are a Titian and Renaissance sculpture by the Lombardo family. The Fondazione Querini Stampalia and the Teatro Malibran are a few minutes away, the Rialto market and La Fenice about ten.

BY WATER, OR UP A PALAZZO STAIRCASE
The building has a water gate on the canal, shared by the residents: you can arrive by water taxi and step inside without crossing a bridge. On foot, you enter through the androne, the ground-floor entrance hall, and climb a stately staircase, something not to be taken for granted in Venice.

LIGHT ON THE TOP FLOOR
The living area is upstairs for a reason: five windows open onto the canal and across the rooftops to St Mark’s Campanile, and a sixth faces the calle. The living room runs the length of the windows, so light reaches every corner; at one end is the dining area with a compact kitchen. Restrained, neutral finishes leave the next owner free to give the house a character of their own.

TWO BEDROOMS, TWO BATHROOMS
On the floor below, two bedrooms in separate wings. The principal bedroom, with its own hallway and private bathroom, looks onto the canal; the second double bedroom, with en-suite bathroom, faces the calle. Both bathrooms have windows. Built-in wardrobes, double-glazed timber windows, a security door, an alarm system and fibre-optic broadband.

WATERBUSES
The Rialto stop, six to eight minutes away, is served by the Grand Canal lines, which run direct to the railway station and Piazzale Roma. From San Zaccaria, about ten minutes away, waterbuses leave for the Lido, Murano and the islands. Rialto and San Zaccaria are also served by the Alilaguna lines to Marco Polo Airport.

BEFORE YOU VISIT
The building has no lift: the apartment occupies the third and fourth floors, linked by an internal staircase. Energy rating G (409 kWh/m² per year), as in almost every historic Venetian palazzo; independent gas heating and air conditioning.

THE GIBIGIANA
Venetians call it the gibigiana: the reflection of the canal water that climbs the walls and plays across the ceilings. It cannot be photographed or explained, and it is the reason why those who buy a house on a canal never buy one that is not.

Viewings by appointment, accompanied by our Venice-based associate.