The Foresteria Valdese in Venice—A Unique Destination
Anyone who has not been to Venice just cannot imagine what a magical place
it is. And right in its centre, a short walk from St Mark’s Square and the Rialto
Bridge, is the Palazzo Cavagnis, a delightful building on a canal which houses
both the Waldensian Church and very comfortable accommodation for visitors.
We had been to the Venice before—for brief visits—but had never actually
stayed on the island city itself. It was just too expensive, for one thing. The
Casa Valdese offers a double advantage. It is not only very reasonably priced;
it is also very near all the main tourist sights—the Doge’s Palace and the
Campanile, Grand Canal and the busy streets on either side of it. Or you can
just wander through the maze of narrow streets and across the small, hump-
backed bridges which lead over the honeycomb of canals.
We were lucky also in that dur-
ing the week we stayed there, the
Casa Valdese staged two concerts
in its second-floor concert hall, both
of a very high standard: one by
a 14-year-old pianist from Milan,
the other by a group of students
from the Trinity School of Music in
London. Our visit also coincided
with that of a group of rowers from
Westminster School in London,
regular visitors, it seems, as they have a friendly link with the local Venetian
rowing club, which specialises in the uniquely Venetian style of rowing while
standing up.
The sights which are not within walking distance—the Lido, the island
of Murano and the further reaches of the city itself—can easily be reached by
the regular vaporetto services, no longer steam-powered but still with a very
local ‘feel’, where you literally rub shoulders with
the entertaining throng of locals and tourists from
every imaginable part of the world.
We did not attend the religious service on
Sunday morning—our Italian simply is not good
enough—but the little church inside the Palazzo
was full. I noted the congregation was quite di-
verse and there was a goodly number of African
folk present. It was also evident from notices in
the lobby that the Waldensian Church is playing
its part in calling for a humane response to the
flow of refugees from across the Mediterranean.
Anyone interested in a stay at this unique
place has only to look up Foresteria Valdese, the
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