Islands AroundThe Rialto Market has been a place of trade since the 11th century. It stands in the San Polo district, next to the Grand Canal and close to the Rialto Bridge. Merchants and food sellers gathered there because boats could unload goods directly into the market. Today, Venetians still shop there for fish, fruit and vegetables.
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How the Rialto Market got its street names
In the 16th century, after a fire, builders laid out new squares and porticoes northwest of the Rialto Bridge. Each area sold a different product. The names of the lanes and squares still show this. For example, Erberia was for fruit and vegetables, Naranzeria for oranges, Speziali for spices and Pescaria for fish.
The fish hall at the Rialto Market
Builders finished the Pescheria, the fish market building, in the early 20th century. Its arches and columns follow a neo-Gothic style, so it recalls Venetian Gothic architecture. The market sells fish and seafood from the lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. Home cooks and restaurant owners also come here to buy fish.
Next to it, the fruit and vegetable market, called the Erberia, sells produce grown around the lagoon. Besides produce, some stalls sell herbs, spices and pasta. One local product is the purple artichoke of Sant’Erasmo, an island in the lagoon. In spring, farmers there cut the first small artichokes, called castraure.
Small plates near the Rialto Market
In the streets around the market, small bars called bacari serve cicchetti. Many of them open early, so shoppers can stop there after their walk through the stalls.
Cicchetti are small snacks, usually on bread or on a toothpick, and customers eat them standing at the counter. For example, typical choices include fried meatballs, marinated seafood, cheese and bread with cod cream.
Customers often order a small glass of wine, called an ombra, which means “shadow”. A popular story explains the name: wine sellers once moved their stalls to follow the shade of the bell tower in St Mark’s Square, to keep their wine cool.
Dishes with a long history
For baccalà mantecato, cooks beat dried cod with olive oil until it becomes a soft cream. Because people could store dried fish for a long time, sailors used it, and so did families on religious fasting days.
For sarde in saor, cooks fry sardines and cover them with onions, vinegar, raisins and pine nuts. This sweet and sour mix helped to preserve the fish before refrigerators existed.
Finally, bigoli in salsa is thick wholewheat pasta with a sauce of onions and anchovies. Cooks made it from cheap ingredients, and families ate it on fasting days, when people did not eat meat.
Before you go
The two markets keep different days. The fish market opens from Tuesday to Saturday, from early morning until midday. The fruit and vegetable market opens from Monday to Saturday, and its stalls stay open until late afternoon. Both markets are closed on Sundays, so check the days before you go.
Vendors set up their stalls early in the morning, making this the best time to visit the market. After exploring the stalls, stop at a nearby bacaro to try a few cicchetti.
