Prior to 1846, when a railway bridge linked the City of Venice to the mainland, the main way to reach the island city was by sea, via the Lido-Vignole sail channel. The Motta di Sant'Antonio, a small hill at the far end of the densely built Castello neighborhood, was the first view of the historical city as seen from the boats entering the Basin of San Marco. Presumably, after conquering the Republic of Venice in 1797, that’s what Napoleon Bonaparte also first saw on his official visit to the city: two windmills on top of the Motta, surrounded by vegetable gardens and the annexes of the Church of Sant’Antonio. That was not a very remarkable approach to a Napoleonic capital. The Emperor had grand plans for Venice, which he hoped would become his main port on the Adriatic. In December 1807, he issued an imperial decree mandating extensive changes in order to modernize the medieval city. The decree called, among others, for the construction of public facilities such as illuminated plazas, a new city cemetery, large promenades with avenues and a public garden. Among these, the garden was given special priority: “The construction will begin immediately and be completed in 1809 at a cost of 400.000 lire, funds that we will specifically allocate for this purpose.” Whether by coincidence or not, the Giardini Pubblici were to be built precisely on “the island circumscribed by the stream of S. Giuseppe and the lagoon, including the so-called Motta di Sant'Antonio”. With stunning views of the San Marco Basin and the lagoon islands, it was arguably the most legitimate and easily accessible location for the new garden.
All of these facilities were designed by Giannantonio Selva, who went on to become the most influential architect in Napoleonic Venice. He proposed building a new avenue near the Arsenale by covering over the Rio di Castello, resulting in a 300-meter-long street that would be much wider than the narrow pathways typical of old Venice. The Via Garibaldi, as it is now known, resembled a Parisian boulevard, bringing Enlightenment values to the city's medieval scape. This was to be Venice's only authentic avenue, the largest and brightest, and the ideal entrance into the new Giardini Pubblici.
In order to make way for the public gardens, an entire neighborhood had to be demolished. The old Monastery of San Domenico (1312-1609), the Seminario Ducale and Church of San Nicolò (1476-1503), the Church of Le Cappuccine (1675), and the imposing Hospice and Church of Sant'Antonio di Castello (1346-1545) were all leveled in this last major urban intervention in the heart of medieval Venice. Built according to the plans of Sebastiano da Lugano, the Church of Sant'Antonio was the most unique of all, particularly because of its splendid facade in Istrian stone, on a design attributed to Jacopo Sansovino. Selva understood the significance of the churches being demolished. He suggested that the Doric arch of the Lando Chapel of Sant'Antonio, attributed to architect Michele Sanmicheli, and other significant pieces be incorporated into his Giardini. Only the Lando arch, rebuilt in the Giardini in 1822, stands today as a single reminder of the buildings sacrificed to give ordinary Venetians access to "the joys of verdure."
The public gardens' entrance opened off the new avenue in an imposing plaza with monumental gates. The view of the lagoon was then framed by a formal route that angled towards the Rio di S. Giuseppe bridge. Selva saw the potential of the vista and integrated the waterscape as a surprising and picturesque element to complement his simple Italian garden design. The formal route then led to the Motta di Sant’Antonio, where the former windmills have been replaced by a small public coffee-house. Selva designed this part in the then-rare English style, adorning the hill with a romantic, sensual garden of dense vegetation and sinuous pathways. The top of the hill, where ordinary citizens could now enjoy the breathtaking panorama of the Sant'Elena and Lido islands, was forever changed, as was the view from the boats entering the Basin of San Marco from the Adriatic.
The main part of Giardini's design was organized along two perpendicular axes: one from the city to the hill, and another from the basin front to a proposed coach house with stables. This facility, designed in the 1830s by the architect Giovanni Battista Meduna, enabled recreational riding in the island city for the first time in history. Selva's bridge over the S. Giuseppe canal, with its gentle ramp designed for horse-drawn carriages, remains Venice's single stepless bridge. Pietro Antonio Zorzi, an experienced botanist, landscaped the gardens, and the imposing trees that line the park's main walks still stand today. The Giardini's green spaces were later redesigned in 1867 and 1880. By the end of the century, all but the main routes had been replaced by a more fluid landscaping with meandering pathways that complemented Selva's Neoclassical sobriety.
When Venice hosted the National Art Exhibition in 1887, the basin-facing section of the Giardini was assigned for the construction of a massive temporary exhibition structure designed by Enrico Trevisanato and decorated by Raimondo D'Aronco. They also demolished Selva’s coffee-house and replaced it with a grand cafeteria. The large art fair was a success in terms of public attendance, but the costs associated with constructing and removing the temporary exhibition halls rendered it unprofitable. The large art fair, on the other hand, was an ideal tourist attraction for a cosmopolitan city looking to establish itself as the de facto leisure destination for the elite. The municipality of Venice sought for a more sustainable economic model, anticipating that a permanent exhibition structure linked to an international biennial art exhibition would be a winning formula. Due to their vast expanse of greenery and unique panorama, the Giardini Pubblici were kept as the ideal location for this endeavor.
The first International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice, later known as La Biennale di Venezia, was inaugurated in 1895 on the grounds of Giardini's former coach house in a purpose-built exhibition palace designed by Enrico Trevisanato. With seventeen large halls arranged around one large central hall, the Palazzo Pro Arte hosted hundreds of artists from 14 countries. Its Sales Office kept 10% of all artwork sales. By the end of the first edition, the Biennale had attracted over 200.000 paying visitors, and more than half of the artworks had been sold, establishing the Venice Biennale as the world's largest art market at the time. The exhibition made a considerable profit and demonstrated that its economic formula worked. The success caused the exhibition space to grow with each subsequent edition, eventually leading to the palazzo's current composition of nearly 50 halls.
In 1907, the Belgian Pavilion was inaugurated in Giardini as a new dedicated exhibition building. The pavilion, paid by the Kingdom of Belgium, was intended to convey to the world King Leopold II's ambition and colonial powers. To separate the area accessible to ticket holders from the rest of the public space in the gardens, a fenced perimeter with entry gates and a ticket office were built. The Belgian example was quickly followed by Hungary and Bavaria, who also built dedicated pavilions, resulting in Giardini's rapid enclavisation. The United Kingdom purchased the grand public cafeteria on Motta di Sant'Antonio, converting it into the current British pavilion. The concession of the grounds for the construction of dedicated national pavilions was one of Biennale's most innovative revenue sources. Once a pavilion was built, it became the property and duty of the foreign country concerned, along with all upkeep costs. However, this meant that the public grounds of Giardini would be privatized. The current Giardini della Biennale includes 28 national pavilions, as well as a pavilion for the City of Venice and several private company pavilions. The gated enclave of Giardini della Biennale expanded continuously until the 1950s and now occupies roughly two-thirds of the public gardens. As a result, the name Giardini Pubblici no longer applies to the park in its current form. It is now rather known as Giardini di Castello or Giardini Napoleonici, which are less politically charged names. Despite its undeniable prestige and well-deserved recognition as the world's most important art and architecture exhibition, the Biennale's expansionist practices are incompatible with the progressive values it claims to support.
In 2001, the Council of Venice approved a detailed urban plan for the Giardini della Biennale. The plan states: “The original function of the Giardini changed over time as the cultural activities of the Biennale put down roots, removing much of the area from public access and generating certain contradictions with the actual use of the space. (...) The area of the Biennale is completely encircled by enclosures of various kinds, made of different materials: high brick walls alternate with buildings that stand around the perimeter, whereas a long iron fence delimits the Fondamenta.” The urban plan commanded “greater accessibility, in terms of duration and overall use of spaces open to the public,” regulating the creation of “new publicly accessible waterfronts along the Rio del Giardini” and “the removal of existing walls and fences in favor of temporary structures used only for the duration of public events."
The Biennale did nothing to demonstrate compliance with this directive, and the City did nothing to enforce it. On the contrary, the Biennale recently doubled its fences towards the Fondamenta, removing the weak points known by the locals as "secret entrances" to the now privatised park.
1. Jacopo de' Barbari, Veduta di Venezia a volo d’uccello, 1498
2. Marco Sebastiano Giampiccoli, Veduta di Venezia, 1810
3. Giannantonio Selva, Plan of Giardini Pubblici, 1807
4. Enrico Trevisanato, Raimondo D'Aronco, Plan of the Venice National Art Exhibition, 1887 >
