Rialto

Rialto Island (formerly), bridge, and district in Venice, once the center of finance and trade. The assault on settlements in the Venetian lagoon in 810 by one of Charlemagne's (742 – 814) sons created a historic shift in the residential patterns of the lagoon dwellers. As the Franks advanced from the south, taking other islands in the lagoon, the capital was removed to a more protected group of islands near the center of the lagoon. That area was known as Rivo Alto, or »Ri'Alto« (high bank)…