The historical centre runs along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and crosses the Canalbianco on the Castello branch during its course from north to south, thus giving rise to rivieras characterized by a typical Venetian atmosphere: on the right Riviera Roma, formely called degli Orti, on the left Riviera Matteotti, formely called Riviera Belvedere.
In the past, along the section of the canal between Castello bridge and the swing- bridge called Sant’Andrea, moorings could be found for the boats and bragozzi which used to transport goods (mainly grain, flour, horticultural products, timber, coal) between Adria, the areas of the Delta and the Venetian lagoon. The loading and unloading of the boats were carried out bydockhands. They followed one another in a row, bent under the weight of their heavy loads, on narrow wooden footbridges laid out between the boats and some stone platforms. Almost all of them wore black shirts, not because they supported the widespread political ideology of the period, but because they wanted to hide the build up of dust and the stains on their clothing. They were divided into groups called “caravans”. Each caravan had a leader and furious quarrels between rival groups would often break out over loading rights or regarding the share of the profits of a hard day’s work.