Lido di Venezia
The
Lido di Venezia
(or simply the "Lido," in local parlance) is a long, narrow strip of
island that separates the middle section of the Venetian Lagoon from the
Adriatic Sea.
In summer, the Lido is a popular beach resort. It's also
a dormitory suburb for Venetians who want to to own houses or garden
apartments near the city center, on an island where they can drive cars.
Most businesses, homes, and hotels are in the middle of
the Lido, which is connected to Venice's centro storico by
ACTV water bus
and to the mainland via the
No. 17 car ferry.
This stretch of the Lido has a large public beach and is home to the
Venice Film Festival. The
Ancient Jewish
Cemetery is also on the Lido. (The cemetery predates the
Venetian Ghetto by 130 years.)
In the first aerial map below, you can see the upper
half (more or less) of the Venetian Lagoon:
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The mainland suburbs of Mestre
and Marghera are on the left.
-
The historic center of Venice is in the middle,
surrounded by water with the Ponte della Libertà
connecting the city with the mainland.
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The Lido di Venezia is on the right, between the
Lagoon and the Adriatic.
The second image focuses on the central part of the
Lido. On it, you'll see:
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The tip of Venice's historic center (Sant'Elena)
in the upper left corner.
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Several small islands, including San
Servolo (now home to a univesity campus) and the square
island of San
Lazzardo degli Armeni, which has been inhabited by a colony of
Armenian monks for the last 300 years. (The monastery offers tours.)
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The ACTV boat landing at Lido-San
Nicolò (near the top of the frame, just above the word
"Map"). This is used by car ferries from Tronchetto and by some
Lagoon water buses.
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The Gran Viale Santa
Maria Elisabetta, which is the street that runs more or less
horizontally across the Lido in the middle of the photo. This is the
Lido's main shopping street. At one end, facing Venice, you'll find
the main Lido waterbus station. At the other end, the street feeds
into a public beach with a
modern bathhouse and other amenities. Just below that beach is the
Grand Hotel des Bains, which was
featured in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice.
-
Farther down the row of beaches (many of which have
private beach clubs behind them) are the Venice Film Festival's
Palazzo della Mostra del Cinema and--almost at the bottom of the
photo--the five-star
Hotel Excelsior Venice. (The palatial Moorish-style hotel opened
in 1908. It has a private beach facing the Adriatic and offers
its guests a free private boat service to the Piazza San Marco.)
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