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 The Rio Terà dei Pugni and the nearby bridge bearing the same name have a place in local history: at the heart of the ancient and lively Sestiere di Dorsoduro (one of the six areas Venice is divided into), it has been home to a very old Venetian tradition, i.e. the fights between two groups of inhabitants (Castellani from the west town area Castello and Nicolotti, from the easternpart S. Nicolò). |
The Government of the Venetian Republic favoured these fights between different opposed areas of the town in order to maintain an attitude towards fighting among the population. Therefore tourna ments between two or groups of contestants were organized for this very purpose: the Ponte dei Pugni (Pugni meaning fists) was the place where the faction of Nicolotti challenged their opponents. |
 The whole population took part in the preparation of the tournaments and was eager to watch them and, being the banks very narrow, the windows and roofs of the surrounding houses were let to the public. Often the competition degenerated into a general battle involving all the inhabitants that sided for the two different factions and half town was in turmoil. The battle either finished or was ended by the police, a winner was proclaimed, the dead were mourned, the wounded were treated and everybody went back to their occupation and all were good friends till the next fight in a year or so. |
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