Between Via Garibaldi and the Riva dei Sette Martiri, beneath the avenues and lawns of the Giardini Pubblici, sleeps a district that no longer exists: the Motta di Sant’Antonio. Until 1807 this was one of the most working-class and lively areas of Venice, a world of fishermen, lacemakers and ‘impiaresse’ — the women who threaded pearls one by one: the everyday city told in Carlo Goldoni’s comedies.