The present study aims to analyze the territorial transformations on Lido of Venice from 1850's to 1870's.
Still today, the arrival of June brings happy-go-lucky holiday makers to the Adriatic Sea coast and beaches of Lido of Venice. Spending the summer on long term rented properties along the sea has become a yearly ritual, whose origins can be traced back to the early 20th century. Numerous are the documents depicting the atmosphere of luxury resorts on those early days. Thomas Mann's “Death in Venice” outstands among them and its popularity spread the name of Lido of Venice to a world-wide scale.
The Lido of the early 19th century had preserved its old structure, with settlements concentrating along the coastline on the Laguna side and government supervised terrains along the Adriatic Sea shore. In between them, vast agricultural surfaces provided a countryside setting rather different from the bustle of resorts developments ubiquitous nowadays. The opening of the sea baths on 1857 arguably enhanced the great transformation to be experienced during the years that followed. They rapidly became a Venetian touristic attraction and represented a turning point in the modernization of the city.
This paper aims to depict Lido's urban development strategies following the establishment of the recreational bath facilities, during the late half of the 19th century.
In this text, it is argued that urban development strategies on the Lido switched balance at the middle of the 19th century and turned their attention to the Adriatic Sea shore, an area previously neglected in favour of the Laguna side. The expansion of the tourism industry at an European level helped to consolidate its economy which in its turn, greatly enabled to counterbalance the militarization of the island. Splendid planted avenues and promenades served by public transportation (in the form of carriages, replaced by tramways at a later stage) were the outcome of the beautification process that came along with the opening of the public baths. At the dawn of the 20th century, the establishment of grand hotels along these same great avenues secured the foundation of a new era for the Lido. This swift wouldn't have been possible without the contribution and investment of local individuals and corporate as it is exemplified by the Fisola.
