Mercatino dell'Antiquariato

Mercatino dell'Antiquariato is a long-running antiques market held several weekends a year in Campo San Maurizio, one of San Marco's quieter, more atmospheric squares. Around sixty professional dealers set up on wooden display stalls that have looked essentially the same since the market began in 1970, offering three centuries of European silverware, ceramics, glass, and other fine antiques to serious collectors and browsers alike.

These are around sixty professional dealers, not a flea market -- the stock runs from the 1600s to the 1900s, and prices reflect that. Handling pieces without asking is the thing that causes friction; asking first is normal and usually leads to being shown more.

Buying genuine antiques means export rules apply. Italy restricts the export of objects over a certain age and value, and a reputable dealer will explain what paperwork a piece needs. Anyone who waves that away is worth walking past.

Some stalls sell period Murano and other Venetian glass. It is worth knowing the difference between an antique piece and a modern reproduction before spending, and worth asking directly -- most dealers here will tell you straight.

The campo is residential and this is a temporary use of it. The market packs down at seven and the square goes back to being somebody's front door.

The market runs for several three-day weekends spread across the year (roughly 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day) rather than continuously -- check the current year's calendar before planning a visit around it. Campo San Maurizio sits in San Marco, a short walk from Piazza San Marco and the Accademia Bridge.

This market exists on only a handful of dates a year. It runs several three-day weekends spread across the calendar, roughly 9am to 7pm, and outside those dates Campo San Maurizio is an empty square -- so checking the current year's calendar is not optional, it is the entire planning problem.

Dealers set up early and the serious buyers come first thing. If you are looking rather than buying, later in the day is more relaxed and the stallholders have more time to talk.

The dates cluster around Easter, early autumn and the run-up to Christmas, and the pre-Christmas weekend is usually the busiest.

The square is small and shaded, which makes this a comfortable market in summer heat and a cold one in December -- there is no shelter beyond the stalls' own awnings.