15-12-2023
Marina di Venezia: a story in chapters
You can think of us either as the largest camping village on the northern Adriatic coast, a self-contained settlement, a holiday resort, or even your home away from home! We would like to share our side of the story in a way that best fits with your image of us, whatever that might be. It’s for those of you who have returned to us season after season and grown with us over the years. Even for those who have visited just for the first time, perhaps you have left a piece of your heart here with us. Maybe some of you have been back more than once during the course of the same season. Or you were planning to return but never quite made it. Perhaps you just heard of us and put us in your bucket list. Whichever of these scenarios may apply, this is for you!
Maybe not too many of you remember Marina di Venezia before the major 60th Anniversary renovations. Or even further back to the time before the aqua park was even built, and when there were still no swimming pools. We’ve come a long way since our founding in 1958, and there’s still much more to come. But let’s start from the beginning and take a walk down memory lane.
How it all started
What was it like here back in 1958? When the campsite was nothing more than a glimmer in the eyes of its founders, Romolo Canale and Cornelio Bertolini, there were just sea, lagoons, empty terrain, and a scattering of trees.
The initial concept was to create a campsite where one could park a vehicle and pitch a tent near the sea, with little more besides. With minimal water resources and no sewage system to speak of, it soon became clear that for the project to survive it had to develop much further and expand. To begin with, some basic facilities needed to be provided.
Infrastructural development
Realizing the importance of providing essential and other services, an ambitious proposal was drafted and submitted to the Mar Architectural Studio in Venice. With the main promenade as the centrepiece of the new campsite, Mar architect began working on a project with an activity hub positioned just a few tens of metres from the entrance. Prior to 2018, that was and still remains our main thoroughfare, the Listón.
With its various shops, restaurants and other amenities, the centrepiece of the new project was a marble paved avenue embellished with a magnificent fountain and flower garden. In what is now Piazza Marina Square a pub celebrated the inauguration with offers of free beer, which some guests responded to enthusiastically – so much so that some ended up in the flower beds – and in need of assistance!
By the 1960’s, construction of the first bungalows was already underway and some outdoor camping activities were taking place. These were followed by the first chalets and ablution blocks, whose design would even by today’s standards be considered environmentally friendly. For example, wood was widely used in the construction – when we refer to our “green vocation”, it is because it’s something we believe in, and always have done!
At that time, Marina di Venezia already occupied the current area, and was about to become the camping village that you know today, with its characteristic features.
More in the next sequence!
