Giudecca, Venice: 2026 Guide to the Island Across the Canal

What is Giudecca?

Giudecca lies immediately south of the central islands of Venice, separated from them by the Giudecca Canal. The island of San Giorgio Maggiore sits off its eastern tip. In early times it was called Spinalunga, meaning long thorn. The name Giudecca may come from the Latin for Jewish, and the historian John Julius Norwich wrote that Jewish merchants once lived on the island and gave it its name, though the origin is not certain. Giudecca was long an area of large palaces with gardens. In the early 20th century it became an industrial zone, with shipyards, factories and even a film studio. Most of that industry declined after the Second World War, and the island is now a quiet residential area of working-class housing with some smart apartments and exclusive hotels.

What to see on Giudecca

Giudecca is about walking the waterfront and stopping at a few landmarks along it.

• Il Redentore — The 16th-century church of the Most Holy Redeemer, designed by Andrea Palladio, on the island's canal-side waterfront.
• Molino Stucky — A Neo-Gothic flour mill built between 1884 and 1895 at the western end of the island. It later made pasta and is now a luxury hotel and apartment complex.
• San Giorgio Maggiore — The neighbouring island off Giudecca's eastern tip, with a Palladian church painted by Monet among many others.
• The waterfront promenade — The long fondamenta along the north shore looks across the Giudecca Canal to the Zattere, the Salute and San Marco.

Can you take a gondola ride on Giudecca?

Not from a station on the island. None of the ten official gondola stations listed by the City of Venice is on Giudecca, and no gondola stand on the island showed up in our Google Maps search. The Giudecca Canal is a wide, open channel used by vaporetto Line 2, while gondola rides mostly use the Grand Canal and the narrow inner canals. To ride a gondola, cross to the main islands. The nearest official stations are in San Marco, including Molo and Dogana by the mouth of the Grand Canal, and the fare is the same at every one: €90 for 30 minutes by day and €110 for 35 minutes after 19:00, per boat. See where to get a gondola in Venice and the official gondola ride price before you go. What Giudecca does offer is the view: from the island's waterfront you look straight across at the boats on the canal and the domes and bell towers of the city.

The Festa del Redentore on Giudecca

The Festa del Redentore is held on the third Sunday of July, and its fireworks, the main event, light up the basin on the Saturday night before. The festival takes its name from Il Redentore, the 16th-century church on Giudecca, and fireworks over the water are its central event. If your trip falls in mid-July, check the date and plan around it: see Venice in July.

How to get to Giudecca and who should stay

You reach Giudecca by boat. Vaporetto Line 2 stops on the island at Zitelle, Redentore and Palanca, and Lines 4.1 and 4.2 also call there. From the Zattere in Dorsoduro the crossing is short. Giudecca suits travellers who want a quiet base with a view, repeat visitors and anyone staying in one of its large hotels. The trade-off is that every trip to the main sights needs a boat, and evening returns depend on the vaporetto timetable. First-timers with a short stay are better served by San Marco or Dorsoduro. For more ideas, see things to do in Venice.