In the far north of Cannaregio there is an elongated square with a well-known house, Palazzo Mastelli. In the XII century it belonged to three merchant brothers, Robia, Sandi and Alfani Mastelli, who came from Morea (the Peloponnese). These medieval silk merchants made this family palace their home. The camp in front of their house is believed to have assumed the nickname of the "Mori" brothers.
Another theory behind the name suggests that the Fondaco degli Arabi (warehouse of Arab merchants) was based on the edge of this field and that the Venetians confused the two races. Whatever the true story, the lasting fame (or notoriety) of Campo dei Mori arose in the following years from the three Arab-style statues of the Moors, said to represent the brothers, on the eastern wall of their home. One of these - the one to which a rusty and rather unpleasant metal nose was added in the 19th century - has been affectionately known for hundreds of years as Mr. Antonio Robia. At his feet the fractured Venetians would leave anonymous written complaints for each other to be read all, giving the statue a role somewhat similar to that of the Palaquino in Rome.
Around the corner, on the Fondamenta dei Mori, the house where the famous painter Tintoretto lived (number 3399) between 1574 and 1594 is marked with another turban statue, while a bridge north of the field leads through Rio Madonna Dell'Orto at Chiesa Madonna dell'Orto, one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in Venice.
