Daily life
Codice fiscale
KO-dee-cheh fees-KA-leh
Your Italian tax code — free, same-day, and required before a lease, a bank account, a SIM or a doctor.
Permesso di soggiorno
per-MES-so dee sod-JOR-no
The residence permit. Non-EU arrivals file for it within eight working days of entry, on paper, at a post office.
Acqua alta
AK-kwa AL-ta
The high tides that flood the low-lying calli and campi. Forecast days ahead and announced by siren tones across the city.
MOSE
MO-zeh
The mobile barriers at the three lagoon inlets, operational since 2020 and raised when a high tide is forecast above the trigger level.
Contributo di accesso
kon-tree-BOO-to dee at-CHES-so
The day-visitor access charge for the historic centre on designated days. Residents of the Veneto are exempt but must still register.
Calle / campo / fondamenta
KAL-leh / KAM-po
Street, square and canal-side walkway. Venice uses none of the standard Italian words, and the addressing system is by sestiere and number.
Sestiere
ses-TYEH-reh
One of the six districts of the historic centre. Addresses are a sestiere plus a number that can run into the thousands with no street name.
Vaporetto
va-po-RET-to
The public waterbus. Residents with the city travel card pay a small fraction of the visitor fare — registering for it is the first thing to do.
Food
Bacaro / cicchetti
BA-ka-ro / chee-KET-tee
The small wine bar and the small plates eaten standing at it. The giro di ombre — a circuit of them — is how Venetians drink.
Social
Terraferma
ter-ra-FER-ma
'The mainland' — Mestre, Marghera and the rest, where most of the comune's residents actually live. Not a lesser Venice; a different city.
Emergency
113 / 115 / 118
uno uno tre
Police, fire and ambulance. The Veneto's unified NUE 112 answering centre is not yet operational, so these remain the direct lines.
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