Riva de Biasio

Venedig · Italy · Urban site

Biasio the sausage-maker served the city's finest stew — until a diner found a small finger bone in his bowl. The quay still bears his name.

This quay on the Grand Canal is named for Biasio Cargnio, a luganegher — a sausage-maker — who ran an eating house here in the early 1500s. His sguazeto, a thick meat stew, was so famous that boats from the mainland stopped just to stock up. The legend says a customer one day found a small finger bone, nail still attached, in his bowl, and that the city's missing children were suddenly explained. According to the register of executions kept at the Marciana Library, Biasio was sentenced on 18 November 1503: dragged through the city to his own shop, his hands struck off there, then beheaded between the columns of the Piazzetta. Venetians kept the name on the quay — not to honour him, but so that nobody would forget.

FAQ

Where is Riva de Biasio located?

Riva de Biasio is in Venedig, Italy.

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