Bande (Ponte, Calle delle) a S. Maria Formosa.
Curiosità Veneziane by Giuseppe Tassini is the go-to book for information on Venetian toponyms, and a treasure trove of curious historical titbits. First published in 1863, it is still being reprinted regularly.
There is no English translation of the book, so I will translate selected entries on this site, whenever they’re used as sources for articles.
Bande (Ponte, Calle delle) at S. Maria Formosa. It is supposed, writes Dezan, that this bridge is called delle Bande because it was the first in these surroundings erected with a small lateral walls called Bande.
The Magno chronicle (Class VII, codes 513-518 of the Marciana) narrates that, when the doge visited the church of S. Maria Formosa on the eve of the Purification, the parish priest, at the bridge in stone that leads to the square, used to lay out a tablecloth, nor did he allow the prince to pass if he had not given him a copper coin, called bianca, traditionally minted for that purpose only. Other chronicles report say that the offer was made on the bridge near the church. It can therefore be believed that, since the one named Bande is the closest to the church of S. M. Formosa, the described ceremony took place on the same.
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Original Italian text
Bande (Ponte, Calle delle) a S. Maria Formosa in Curiosità Veneziane.
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