The name of the streets in Venice, as in all cities, is read on the signs names, but it is not always easy to recognize the terminology of the streets that in this city certainly deserves some attention.
Small nomenclature of Venetian roads:
CALLE: It is the Venetian road and it is that passage between two buildings that can be very narrow or very wide depending on the architectural position of the properties. Usually the “Calle” opens on a campo or a Campiello, the small squares typical of Venice.
RAMO: It is a calle that has the outlet on the grand Canal and therefore turns out without exit.
RUGA: It is a large Calle, rich in commercial activities, among the most famous Ruga Giuffa in the sestiere of Castello and Ruga Rialto in the area of the markets in the sestiere of San Polo.
SALIZADA (cobbled): they are the calli that in the distant epoch were the first to be paved with the bechite, the grey stone that still stands a bit everywhere in Venice and that in dialect are called “Masegni”. The other calli and some campo were paved with thin bricks placed in herringbone or even were on the beaten ground.
PISCINE: They are those larges calli that once were lagoon branch where the kids bathed and then they were paved.
FONDAMENTA: They are the roads that line the canals and are called so because they were and are still the continuation of the foundations of the buildings and the reinforcement of the banks.
VIA: There are only two: via Garibaldi in the Sestiere di Castello and via XXII Marzo in the sestiere of San Marco.
There is one and only square and is that of San Marco, all the other wide open spaces surrounded by houses that often have a statue of some illustrious historical character in the center, are called “Campi” and those of smaller size “Campielli” .
Good walk