The last surviving stretch of the canal network that Abbot Kinney dug in 1905 to recreate Venice, Italy — complete, briefly, with imported gondoliers. Most of the sixteen miles were paved over in 1929, but a handful of waterways south of the boardwalk remain, lined with walkways, small arched footbridges, and some of the most coveted houses in the city.
A slow morning loop on foot, past the ducks and the carefully tended waterside gardens, is one of the quietest and most surprising experiences in Venice — a complete contrast to the boardwalk a few hundred metres away. There is no commerce here; it is purely a place to walk and look.