After meeting your guide at the terminal building, you will walk together through the Santa Croce district to reach the Cannaregio district. The second largest sestiere (district) in Venice, it was one of the first areas to be developed beginning in the 11th century A.D. The Cannaregio Canal, which was the main route into the city until the construction of a railway link to the mainland, probably gave the district its name. Although there are elegant palazzos along the Grand Canal, the area was primarily home to the working class, workshops and foundries. Beginning in 1516, Jews were restricted to living in the Venetian Ghetto. It was enclosed by guarded gates and no one was allowed to leave from sunset to dawn. However, Jews held successful positions in the city such as merchants, physicians, money lenders, and other trades. Restrictions on daily Jewish life continued for more than 270 years, until Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the Venetian Republic in 1797. He removed the gates and gave all residents the freedom to live where they chose.

Though it was home to a large number of Jews, the groups living in the Venetian Ghetto never assimilated to form one ethnicity. Four of the five synagogues were clearly divided according to ethnic identity: separate synagogues existed for the Germans, the Italians, the Spanish and Portuguese, the Leventine (lands east of Italy.) The remaining synagogue may have been French or a private synagogue. Languages historically spoken in the confines of the Ghetto include the afore mentioned as well as Venetian, Judeo-Arabic and of course Hebrew, which is still used on signage, inscriptions, and for official documents such as wedding contracts. Today, the Ghetto is still the center of Jewish life, and is home to the five synagogues, (only two are still used) a yeshiva for Torah study, a kosher restaurant, several shops, a Chabad synagogue and a museum. The Jewish community in Venice now numbers around 1,000 but only a third of them still live in the Ghetto, choosing to return only during religious services. The district is home to morning markets, neighborhood shops, small cafés and is one of the few districts that people still live in.

After your walking tour, and a visit to the synagogue and Jewish museum, your guide will walk you to St. Mark's Square where the tour ends.