Giudecca, Lido & The Southern Islands - Venice and the Veneto - page 358

Ascending San Giorgio Maggiore's soaring campanile t o gain purchase on the
labyrinth that is Venice.
Renting a bike on the Lido and pedalling your way along the seafront promenade to
the Alberoni pine forest at the southern tip.
Rubbing elbows with locals at Giudecca's farmers market and El Pecador , the
Lido's double-decker food bus.
Feasting on prize Malamocco artichokes at Le Garzette and the freshest lagoon-
sourced molluscs at da Celeste .
Explore Giudecca, Lido & the Southern Islands
Other cities have suburban sprawl; Venice has primordial monasteries floating in teal-blue
waters. To the south, the seaward side of the lagoon is sheltered from the Adriatic by the
Lido, for centuries the beach and bastion of the city. In the 19th century, it found a new
lease of life as a bathing resort and a place of welcome natural beauty after the urban
rigours of the Rialto.
Smaller islands dot the foreground of remarkable views back across the lagoon to San
Marco: Sacca Sessola, San Lazzaro degli Armeni, San Servolo and San Giorgio Mag-
giore. In the past they served the Republic well as quarantine islands, convents for way-
ward nuns, hospitals and mental asylums.
In the shadow of San Giorgio Maggiore lies La Giudecca, Venice's unofficial seventh
sestiere . It was once an aristocratic retreat and later the city's industrial centre, the rede-
veloped Molino Stucky flour mill standing in counterpoint to Palladio's Chiesa di San Gi-
orgio. You can easily visit both islands in half a day - weekends are best, when you can
also visit the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
Note that many island restaurants close from November to March, especially on the
Lido.