Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
GIARDINI PUBBLICI
Venice's public gardens were laid out between 1808 and 1812 on the orders of Napole-
on, who decided the city needed a little breathing space. Never mind that an entire
residential district had to be demolished or acres of swampland reclaimed. A winning
combination of formal gardens and winding pathways, the park now stretches from
Via Garibaldi, past the Garibaldi monument with its punk-haired lion, through the
Napoleonic gardens and past the Biennale pavilions to Sant'Elena, making this the
largest park in Venice.
Biennale Pavilions
A large portion of the gardens is given over to the Biennale exhibition arena, hosting inter-
national art (odd years) and architecture (even years) events in 30 modernist pavilions, each
allocated to a different nation. During the
Art Biennale's
June-September run, connoisseurs
swarm national showcases ranging from Geza Rintel Maroti's 1909 Secessionist-era
Hun-
garian Pavilion
to Philip Cox's 1988 boxy, yellow
Australian Pavilion
, frequently mistaken for a
construction trailer.
The pavilions tell a fascinating story of 20th-century architecture - not least because
Venetian modernist master Carlo Scarpa contributed to the Biennale from 1948 to 1972,
trying to make the best of Duilio Torres' Fascist 1932 Italian Pavilion (now the
Palazzo delle
Esposizioni
). Scarpa is also responsible for the daring 1956 raw-concrete-and-glass
Venezuelan
Pavilion
and the winsome, bug-shaped
Biglietteria
(Ticket Office). The closest spiritual neigh-
bour is the white-washed
Austrian Pavilion
, a Secessionist masterpiece designed by Josef
Hoffman in 1934. More recently, the post-modern 1996
Korean Pavilion
has taken over an
electrical plant in ingenious ways. Note that the Biennale grounds are only open during Bi-
ennale events.
Monument to the Partisan Woman
Located purposefully in the lapping water off the Riva dei Sette Martiri - where seven
Venetian partisans were shot and killed in 1944 - lies the 1200kg bronze figure of a woman
partisan. Sculpted by Augusto Murer, the figure reclines, exhausted it seems, on an ar-
