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Giudecca Review
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Giudecca
Fodor's Review:
Seeing Venice from the Giudecca is a bit like seeing the earth from the moon. On a clear day you can take in the city's full panorama, from the Giardini della Biennale to your right (east) to the fuming factories of Marghera industrial complex on the mainland to your left. The island is delightfully mysterious in light fog, but rain or northerly bora winds can turn an otherwise perfect walk into cold misery. Few tourists venture beyond the main fondamenta, and few Venetians bother coming to Giudecca at all, unless it's to visit Sacca Fisola's Friday market or the public swimming pool. The original name for the island was Spinalunga (long spine), and how it came to be called Giudecca is something of a mystery. It may derive from a possible 14th-century Jewish settlement, or it may be the result of 9th-century nobles being condemned to giudicato (exile) here.
Giudecca became a pleasure garden for wealthy Venetians during the republic's long and luxurious decline. Through much of the 20th century it was largely working-class, but of late it has become increasingly gentrified. The island is the site of the exclusive Cipriani hotel, but also the International Youth Hostel and a women's prison. Here and there the ruins of an industrial past -- watchmaking, beer brewing, textiles, and a granary -- all dating from the 19th century, are being resurrected into housing. Mulino Stucky, an 1895 neo-Gothic flour mill, abandoned for years, is being slowly transformed into a hotel and condominiums overlooking the city's port. Other renovated properties are offering special terms to help make it affordable for Venetians to remain in their city of birth.
- Cost: EUR 2.50, Chorus pass EUR 8
- Open: Mon.-Sat. 10-5, Sun. 1-5
- Metro: Redentore
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