San Polo can claim to be where the modern archipelago of Venice began in the 9th century. While the administration of this great trading empire developed in the lower-lying sestiere of San Marco, San Polo remained where the international traders assembled and the Venetians shopped for fish, meat and vegetables.

Still today there is a sense that once you have crossed the bling-central shopping excesses of the Rialto Bridge that here is the ‘real’ Venice, where merchants trade and locals drink wine, and tourists are welcome, but far from essential.