Sinceits earliest days, the main commercial and financial activities in Venice tookplace around Campo di San Giacomo a Rialto, and in the church of the same namewe can find the lovely decorated altars of the numerous scuole piccole(confraternities) for craftsmen. In the same small campo you can also see theFabbriche Vecchie building which now houses the Venice Court house and theBanco Giro portico which was the site of the first credit giving banks. As youwalk through the fish market, you will arrive at the Church of San Cassiano,which houses a Tintoretto cycle and you will see the “Castelletto”, which was aplace of vice and virtue created during the Serenissima. On the opposite sideof the market is the Church of San Giovanni Elemosinario, which contains one ofthe few hypogeum frescoed tombs that exist in Venice. The church is a wealth ofheritage left by the numerous craftsmen scuole, which prayed for the glory ofGod and for the salvation of their souls there. They decorated the churchby commissioning masterpieces from artists such as Titian, Domenico Tintoretto,Palma il Giovane and Leonardo Corona.
