At Calle dell’Arco 456, one truly unusual thing to see is the “Barrel Door.”
Yes, an actual door — but with a very peculiar shape: it widens at the base to allow wooden barrels to be rolled directly into the cellar.
Wine production in Venice was extremely important, especially because drinking water, filtered from the vere da pozzo (wellheads), was not always safe to drink. Wine offered greater hygienic guarantees.
Barrels constantly entered and exited — full and empty — in a strategic location: right in the heart of Rialto, halfway between Riva del Vin (where wine-loaded boats would dock) and Calle dei Boteri, where the barrel-makers had their workshops.
These coopers were part of a guild called the Confraternity of the Boteri, and this very building belonged to them — it’s where wine barrels were made.
They were even obliged to repair the Doge’s barrels for free.
