Corte del Calderer

Venice, San Polo · a courtyard named after the coppersmiths

Corte del Calderer — the Coppersmiths’ Courtyard by San Giovanni Evangelista, Venice

A small courtyard of San Polo, a few steps from the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, with a well-head at its centre and a name that remembers the caldereri: the makers of copper pots, braziers and bells.

At a glance

Corte del Calderer is one of the enclosed courtyards of the sestiere of San Polo, a few metres north of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. Like many Venetian street names it records a trade: the caldereri, who made copper pots and braziers and cast bells, and who formed a guild in 1294. At its centre stands a well-head of Istrian stone. These photographs were taken on a foggy night in January 2024.

Key facts

Name: from the caldereri, makers of copper pots and braziers and founders of bells
The guild: organised in 1294, part of the smiths’ corporation; it met at the church of San Luca, under the patronage of Saint John the Beheaded
The well: a cylindrical well-head of Istrian stone with a square frame, four arches on the sides and four spandrels at the corners, on a square base, closed by a convex metal cover
GPS: 45.43862, 12.32660 · Open in Google Maps

History

The caldereri worked copper and bronze: pots, braziers, bells. According to Giuseppe Tassini’s Curiosità veneziane of 1872, they were organised as a guild in 1294 and belonged to the corporation of the smiths, alongside the craftsmen who made and mended copper and iron containers. The guild met at the church of San Luca, under the patronage of Saint John the Beheaded. One of its rules obliged members to sell their goods at the fair of the Ascension, unless they paid the guild three ducats to be excused.

What you see

A small square of herringbone brick paving closed on every side by house fronts, some in bare brick, some plastered in ochre and red, with green doors at ground level. In the middle stands the well-head, today used as a stand for a potted tree. The name is painted on a stone tablet set into the brick of the corner house, under a street lamp that at night is the only light in the courtyard.

Nearby

The Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista — a few steps to the south
The Frari — a short walk to the south-west
The bell tower of San Polo — towards Campo San Polo

Sources

Conoscere Venezia, Corte del Calderer, nel Sestiere di San Polo, after Giuseppe Tassini, Curiosità veneziane (1872): the caldereri, the guild of 1294 within the smiths’ corporation, its seat at San Luca, the rule of the Ascension fair
Conoscere Venezia, Pozzo in Corte del Calderer: the well-head of Istrian stone, its frame, base and cover

Gallery

The herringbone brick paving of Corte del Calderer at night, the well-head with plants and a red house front behind — The herringbone brick paving and the well-head. Photo: Luigi De Marchi, 2024.

Corte del Calderer at night, the well-head with its potted tree lit by a lamp, plastered house fronts behind — The courtyard at night, the well-head at the centre. Photo: Luigi De Marchi, 2024.

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Travel tips from CHO

Go on the first Sunday of the month

State museums, archaeological parks and monuments across Italy open free of charge on the first Sunday of every month. It covers state-run sites only — civic and private museums set their own prices — and there is nothing to claim: you simply walk in.

The ministry’s free days →

In September, the doors that are usually shut open

For one long weekend every September, some fifty European countries run the European Heritage Days together: palaces, workshops, archives and private houses that are closed the rest of the year let visitors in, almost always for nothing. Italy sets its own dates, and they are published a few weeks ahead.

Dates, country by country →

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