The Riva degli Schiavoni is a long waterfront along the St Mark’s Basin, in the Castello district. Its name recalls the merchants and sailors from Dalmatia, then known as Schiavonia, who moored here to trade. This fondamenta (canalside walkway) was not always as wide as it is today: originally, the buildings stood right at the water’s edge, and the route was widened only later.