Capitolo 3 The active ferries on the Great Canal

4 - Santa Sofia
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The ferry in Campo S.Sofia.	It is a ferry particularly popular, since it allows to whom comes from Cannaregio or from the islands (like Murano) to arrive easily to the Rialto market and to be able to come back without crossing the homonymous bridge( with bags is not really the most comfortable thing in the world!). Vice versa, it allows to whom comes from the central sestieri of S. Polo and S. Croce to go to Cannaregio.
The ferry at the Rialto market.	In the Rialto market area one can find some offices , but it is above all the "market" that polarizes the attention of Venetians and tourists. The first find a great variety of food-products coming from the vegetable gardens of the islands or of the inland and the fish fished the previous night in the lagoon or in the sheet of sea opposite the lagoon itself. They are those that the Venetians call " home-products", in the sense that they are "of our lands" or " of our waters". The tourists are attracted above all by the " colour " and the vitality of the area of the market, where one can still feel beat the real "heart" of Venice; it is amusing to see how, among the busying of Venetians (men and women) intent on shopping, they manage, with real funambulisms, the tourists intent on taking by the photographic objective images of the authentic life of this incredible city. At the Rialto market one finds himself, in practice, at the crossing of two routes:that one that from the bridge takes to Ferrovia and Piazzale Roma through the sestiere of S. Croce( that begins nearby, after campo S. Cassiano) and the one that, through the "ruga degli speziali" and "ruga vecchia", goes to campo S. Polo and from there to S. Tom� and to Frari. It seems that the word "ruga" comes from the French "rue" and indicates a road lined by houses and shops;the title of ruga should so be rather ancient, coming, that is to say, from when the city was only partially populated.
	On the other shore of the Great Canal, the Campo of S. Sofia, on the contrary, looks on "Strada Nova", on the main route of Cannaregio that, from the Ferrovia, takes till campo SS. Apostoli, near S. Sofia. In a parallel calle one can find the entrance to the very famous Ca' d'oro, whose beautiful facade is reflected in Great Canal at little distance from the stop. In this area important offices are situated, as that of the Register. Campo SS. Apostoli can be considered as the beginning of a "triple crossroad" from which one can reach easily Fondamente Nuove (where we can find the embarkations for the islands of the lagoon) or, through the homonymous bridge and the "Salizzada S. Giovanni Grisostomo", the central "campo S. Bartolomeo".Or one can go on behind the SS. Apostoli church, crossing the calle of the "ferry" (the old ferry on boats to Murano, that now, of course, exists no more), and from there to campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo, where there is the homonymous and famous Basilica.