Campo Santa Margherita
Campo Santa Margherita, surrounded of houses from the XIV and XV century, is a very well known meeting point of the Dorsoduro District area. It’s a very lively place characterized by its untouched Venetianity: small shops, bars, restaurants, a tiny fish market and a local street market that sometimes comes out from nowhere, contribute to render it unique and full of life.
On the north side there is an auditorium, property of Ca’ Foscari University, whose central unit stands just a few steps away. After the proclamation of the new graduates in Ca' Foscari's headquarter, the new graduates are taken into the square that becomes theater of some traditional goliardic jokes played against the new "doctors"...a show that can’ t be missed!!!.
On the opposite side, you can see the famous “Ponte dei Pugni”, that links Campo Santa Margherita to Campo San Barnaba (with his homonymous church and the famous Veg and fruits shops on a traditional Venetian boat). This bridge has 2 pairs of footsteps, one for each corner, that used to mark the beginning of the fight between rival factions of the city (banned in 1705). Once there were no fences, and the one that fell in the water was the loser.
On the south west side of Campo Santa Margherita stands the Church of Carmini, whose oldest part is the side entrance of the building in gothic style with fragments of bizantine bas-reliefs. The church was built on the XIV Century, but in the following epochs it has been restored and modified.
