Why is Venice’s street numbering difficult for visitors to follow?

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Venice Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, where the Grand Canal opens into the San Marco Basin.

Navigating Venice can be challenging for visitors because the city does not follow a standard street-based numbering system. Instead of assigning numbers sequentially along individual streets, Venice uses a system where houses are numbered consecutively throughout an entire district (or sestiere).1

This unique approach means that house numbers do not correspond to a specific street name, making it difficult to locate a destination based on traditional address formats. This layout is a remnant of the city's historical development, which evolved from a collection of 118 separate islands linked by bridges and canals rather than a planned grid.1