Santa Croce
Santa Croce (Holy Cross) is a district of Venice. It borders to the south and east with the sestiere di San Polo, its limits being the Rio di San Stae, the Rio Marin and the Rio della Frescada up to the parish of San Pantalon. To the south it borders the sestiere di Dorsoduro and to the north it borders the Grand Canal and is connected to Cannaregio through the Ponte degli Scalzi and the Ponte della Costituzione.
It is the smallest district of the city. It owes its name to the church of Santa Croce, an important church demolished after the suppression of Napoleon.
In the 20th century it was greatly transformed, first with the construction of the Maritime Station, then with the creation of Piazzale Rome, and finally with the construction of the car park on the artificial island of Tronchetto. All works as a direct consequence of the construction of the Liberty Bridge in 1933, which transformed the northern part of the district into the car and bus terminal of Venice. For this reason, it is the only district of Venice in which there is a small area through which vehicles can circulate, although in a very limited way.
Among the churches in the district, San Giacomo dall'Orio, San Stae and the temple of San Nicola da Tolentino. Also worthy of mention are the two churches of San Simeon: that of San Simeon Grando, dedicated to Simeon the Prophet, and that of San Simeon Piccolo, dedicated to the saints Simon the Canaanite and Judas Thaddeus.
The Civil buildings that stand out the most are Ca' Pesaro, today the International Gallery of Modern Art, and the Fontego dei Turchi, a former warehouse where Ottoman merchants could unload their goods and which currently houses the Museum of Natural History.