You are now on the ponte dei Bareteri, the hatmakers’ bridge, which is halfway along the Mercerie. This bridge holds a small record, as it has 6 different alleys leading on and off the bridge. Coming from Piazza san Marco, looking up you’ll see a protruding windowed balcony in wood. This is the Casino Venier, historically one of the most famous gambling houses in the city, where noblemen would indulge in all the dissolute pleasures prohibited by the state; gambling, for example, was strictly forbidden anywhere in Venice and the penalties were severe, but Venetians loved disobeying rules as much as they did playing. Today, the building houses the French cultural association Alliance Française.
