Read more

The Lido of Venice (also known simply Lido) is a thin long and narrow island that stretches for about 11 km between the Venice lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, bordered by the ports of San Nicolò and Malamocco, connected to the city and the mainland only through Vaporetti and motozattere to transport vehicles (ferry-boat).

It is one of the few islands of the lagoon where there are road and is also a small touristic airport.
With the neighboring island of Pellestrina is a municipality in the municipality of Venice.
The name Lido refers, specifically, the main town, is distinct from other localities of the island and Malamocco Alberoni.

As well as being so close to Venice, the island of Lido has always proved a fundamental link in the long chain of inlands dividing the sea from the lagoon: being a narrow strip of land squeezed between two different water systems with their temperature differences means that Lido’s air is never still, but constantly moving in a light breeze -making the island excellent as a salubrious place to stay.
There is a wealth of plant life and greenery on Lido which, despite urban encroachments in recent decades, still clearly prevails over the concrete and asphalt. One can see why it became a favourite resort for those intent on reinvigorating body and mind.

During his sojourns in Venice in the 1820s, Lord Byron would come to the Lido as often as possible: in the day he would take a horse and ride the length of the isle, to then while away the evening at San Nicoletto. moved by the sun setting over the lagoon – just as many other poets and writers have done over the centuries.
History tells us that wealthy aristocratic Venetian families chose Lido as their “place of delights”. The building in the colour photograph – which today, like many other hotels, is a jewel in leafy surroundings – is an example of the evolution of the quadrilateral construction sketched in the lower part of the 16th century plan (centre), and similar to the one which the noble Pisani family had built in 1573. They commissioned two of the most famous archi­tects of the time: Andrea Palladio and Antonio Da Ponte, and still today the building remains a monu­ment to the consistently peaceful atmosphere on the island.
From the end of the 18th century the site of the Casino Pisani began to be called Quattro Fontane” -the Four Springs – after the four large natural rainwa­ter reservoirs discovered under the high dunes near the sea. These wells were later exploited for military reasons as part Venice’s defence system, a simple episode indicative of the strong tie that has always existed between the island and the city.