The windows of the Locanda look onto two “Calli” particularly characteristic and rich in history and legends: The “Barbaria delle Tole” and the “Calle dell’Ospedaletto”.
“Barbaria delle Tole”: long ago housed the warehouses of wooden planks (“Tole” in venetian) belonging to wood merchants. According to some experts the term derives from “antica boscaglia” (ancient wood) or “luogo selvaggio” (wild place), according to others numerous barbers’ shops grew up there. Another and more credible version is that the name derives from the fact that the wooden planks in the warehouses were destined for “barbari” barbarian countries, that is for the Saracens.
The spectacular façade of the Church of “S.Maria dei Derelitti”, or the “Ospedaletto”, rich in marbles and sculptures was built on a project of Baldassare Longhena. This “Ospedaletto”, a little hospital, took in orphans or “derelitti” abandoned children, with financial contributions from certain nobles and wealthy citizens, as a charitable foundation.
  
A great number of female orphans (called “figlie” or “putte”) who were without guardianship and would have to be protected, educated and guided until marriage or entering a convent, were taken in here and performed in musical concerts of great interest. Even today numerous musical events are held in the celebrated “Sala della Musica” (the music room) in the “Ospedaletto” complex.

Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo:
In 1234 the Doge Giacomo Tiepolo gave a piece of marshland to the Dominican Friars so that they could build a temple (Church) and a monastery. The Church was not finished until 1430 and was consecrated in the name of SS Giovanni e Paolo (St.John and Paul, called St.Zanipolo by the Venetians). This Church was used for the funerals of the Doges and was visited once a year by the Prince and the “Signoria” (Nobles) on the 26th of June the Saint day of the Principle Saints, in remembrance of the famous victory won on the same day in 1656 against the Turks in the Dardanelles. The Church in fact became the Pantheon of Venetian memories in its vast “Campo”, (square) which after Saint Mark’s Square is the most monumental and significant for works of art and historical memories, as we can admire in the splendid paintings of Francesco Guardi, Canaletto and other famous artists.
Next to the Church in the Dominican Convent called the “Scuola Grande” of Saint Mark, which is now the site of the city hospital, in olden days the beggars and vagabonds of the city were sheltered there as a charitable foundation, as well as pilgrims bound for the Holy Land. The façade of this building in the Lombard Renaissance style is rich in marbles and decorations.
The famous equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni was erected in front of the Church and the monastery, sculpted by the Florentine Andrea Verrocchio it admirably represents the fierceness and magnificence of the famous warrior (end of the 1400’s). The story as to the location of this bronze statue is curious:
Colleoni was a “Bergamasque Condottiere” in the pay of the “Serenissima” who left his worldly goods to the Republic on the condition that his monument was erected in front of Saint Mark’s, even though a law forbade this. The Senate cleverly decided that the monument was to be erected in front of the “Scuola” of Saint Mark.

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