Pietra Rossa

In the Castello district, near Piazza San Marco and the Arsenale, lies a hidden piece of Venetian superstition: the Pietra Rossa. According to legend, during the plague of 1630, the Virgin Mary appeared to a woman named Giovanna, instructing her to place a sacred image in the underpass. The plague miraculously stopped at that very point, and today, Venetians avoid stepping on the red stone to prevent misfortune.