Venetians often gave colorful and mysterious names to their streets. Those names endure today, on the painted street signs called ninzioleti, or "little sheets." I'm thinking now of Santa Croce's Fondamenta di Tette ("Canalside Way of Breasts"), San Marco's Calle dei Assassini ("Street of the Assassins"), Dorsoduro's Calle del Sangue ("Street of Blood"), and Castello's Calle delle Moschette ("Street of Little Flies," referring not to insects but to the beauty spot patches that were once designed and sold there).
But I believe sometimes they just plain ran out of ideas. For example, here is San Polo's Calle Stretta. Can you guess what that means?
Yup. "Tight Street."
