The Sestiere of Saint Marks is the oldest and most famous of the whole city of Venice, everything started from here. In the beginning it was called Rivoalto (from here the name Rialto) it is referred to the islands where the area was built, its fulcrum is Saint Marks, a place that for more than thousand years has been the political and administrative centre of the Venetian Republic.

The Sestiere is washed by Canal Grande on its northern side, to the east it borders with Castello and Cannaregio, it is linked to the Sestiere of San Polo by the Rialto bridge and to Dorsoduro by Accademia bridge, part of the sestiere is the isle of San Giorgio too. The resident of the quarter are few, at the end of 2007 they were only 4236, just because most of the palaces host touristic or touristic related activities. Sadly this is the price to pay for its beauty and wonderful art operas.