Via Giuseppe Garibaldi

Broad Via Giuseppe Garibaldi almost seems out of place in Venice, but makes sense when you realize it was a wide canal before the Napoleonic government filled it in. Its most famous residents, remembered by a plaque near the western end of the street, would have been shocked, because like so many Venetians they lived on and made their fame and fortune on boats.

Giovanni Caboto, or Zuan Chabotto in Venetian dialect (c. 1450-98) was brought to Venice from Genoa (or some say Gaeta, near Naples) as a child. He married a Venetian and had several sons, including Sebastiano (c.1474-1557). After living in Venice for 15 years, Giovanni became a citizen and like any good Venetian became a merchant trading in the Mediterranean. In 1488, however, he fell into debt and escaped his creditors by moving his family to Spain. There, inspired by Columbus (ten years his junior) he sought money from the Spanish Crown to discover a possible route to the Indies. His idea, however, was to sail north instead of south. But Isabella and Ferdinand remained unconvinced.