San Polo is Venice's smallest sestiere, but it punches well above its size — this is where the Rialto Market has operated for close to a thousand years, and its streets are among the oldest and most tangled in the city.
What's here
The Basilica dei Frari, a vast Gothic church, holds major works by Titian (including his own tomb) and Bellini, and is a genuine rival to the Accademia for anyone interested in Venetian painting — usually with a fraction of the queue. Nearby, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco houses one of the largest and most complete cycles of paintings by Tintoretto anywhere, covering the walls and ceiling of an entire building.
Campo San Polo, the sestiere's main square, is one of the largest in Venice and hosts an open-air cinema some summers — a good gauge of how residential this area remains behind the market bustle.
The market streets
The tangle of streets radiating from the Rialto Bridge — Ruga Rialto, the fish and produce markets, and the surrounding bacari — form Venice's oldest commercial district, still functioning largely as it has for centuries: market mornings, bar-hopping evenings.
Practical notes
San Polo's small size makes it easy to combine with San Marco or Santa Croce on foot, but its market streets are also some of the most crowded in the city from mid-morning onward — an early visit rewards you with both a working market and empty streets.