hellovenezia

A very unusual fort and the strange and enthralling story of Massimiliano I, Emperor of Mexico.

The restoration of the building and its conversion into a gallery.

Saint Erasmus and its farming vocation, the market garden of Venice.

Until the decline of the Republic of Venice, the lagoon was defended by a few strategically placed forts to control the port mouths, such as “Due Castelli” between S. Nicolò on the Lido and the Island of S. Andrea, which were fortified by the architect Sanmichieli, while there was virtually no form of defence for the land joining the lagoon to the mainland, except for the Mestre Castle, as Venice was defended in the hinterland by the towns that had declared their devotion to the city from the XIV century on.
After the fall of the Republic in 1797, militarisation began in the Lagoon by the French and Austrian-Hungarian authorities, and the fortified harbours were built in detached forts with military command and barracks located in all the convents that the city had suppressed and on virtually all the islands in the lagoon.
In 1945 there were almost one hundred garrisoned forts.
In this “modern” phase after 1797, as the entire defence system was constantly and progressively strengthened, especially the military defences in the Lido port, the coastline of Saint Erasmus was also fortified, which is when the Massimiliano Tower was built by the Austrians between 1843 and 1844.
Today Saint Erasmus is a large island mainly dedicated to farming, and particularly well-known for the “castraure” which are the small first artichoke buds which are cut off to increase the plant’s yield, or other various firstlings, through to the production of the must, when there is a lovely festival with a regatta at the beginning of October, and the wine with its very distinctive flavour given by the sandy, salty soil.
In Roman times it was a holiday resort for the rich and noble, with records of beautiful villas with rich mosaics which, unfortunately, have disappeared today but their memory lingers on.
To go back to our tower, as we said it was completed by the Austrians who held military and political occupation of the Lombard-Veneto district in 1844. They had it built on the remains of a previous fort that the French had built during their occupation between 1811 and 1814.

The fort is circular in shape with an indoor area of 600 square meters, an external diameter of approx. 18.50 linear meters and an internal diameter of 8.50 linear meters and a height from the ground of 11 linear meters, while certain outbuildings, such as the cistern, arms store and certain artillery stations were built on the outside between the canal and the bordering landfills.
The entrance foyer leads to the central, circular cloister where there are fifteen cells built on two floors of about 40 square meters each, with an access corridor running around them all.
The fort takes its name from its inventor, Archduke Massimiliano Giuseppe of Austria-Este (1782-1863), who was born in Milan and was the third child of the Governor of Lombardy and Duke of Modena (1803-1806) Archduke Ferdinand.

This passage should perhaps be explained, because legend holds that another archduke had been in the tower in the past, Massimiliano I, Emperor of Mexico.
This particular Massimiliano, second son of Archduke Francesco Carlo of Austria and brother of Francesco Giuseppe, the future Emperor of Austria, was born in Schönbrunn on 6th July 1832 and was shot and killed in Mexico on 19th June 1867.
Massimiliano I had been Viceroy of Lombard-Veneto since February 1857 when he took over from Field Marshall Radetsky, and his story is very interesting and is entwined not only with the European political tension of that time but also the colonial events in the Americas, with the American Civil War and the riotous revolutionary governments in Mexico.
However the “Italian” Massimiliano who designed the tower retreated there in 1848 during one of the most strained periods of the Italian Risorgimento wars.
The idea of giving the tower a circular shape came about because it meant that the artillery that resided there could be used at 360° and was based on studies by the Este Noble Military Academy in Modena.
The results of these studies were applied to the entrenched field in Linz, and another entrenched field built by the Austrians in Brescello, on the Po River.
Four of these towers were built here between 1834 and 1836 but were then demolished after Italian Unity came about.
This means that the only remaining example of a Massimiliano Tower is this one in Venice.

The tower had long since been abandoned and the landfill was used to house hens, rabbits and other domestic animals, but it has now undergone a magnificent restoration by the New Venice Consortium as part of the Programme Agreement between the Venice Town Council, the Veneto Regional Council and the Venice Water Authorities, and was returned to Venice in 2004.
The restoration fully respects the architectural layout that had been taken from the document archives, but modernised with the inclusion of totally removable structures that enable an everyday use as a gallery.
Furthermore it gives a wonderful view from the top of the entire Island and the port mouth at S. Nicolò on the Lido.
It is quite easy to reach Saint Erasmus with the local ACTV water bus service no. 13 or the North Lagoon service.
Bikes can be hired to tour this quite large Island, or there are some wonderful walks where the more unusual and singular features can be better appreciated.
The island’s tourist vocation has been revived over the years and there are now various types of accommodation and dining facilities.
Our journey to discover the different constructions and forts in the Lagoon begins with a visit to the Saint Erasmus tower and, as we have seen, the journey can be extended to all the islands and lagoon land, from Mestre to the islands of Mazzorbo, S. Giacomo in Paludo, S. Andrea, Certosa, Venice Lido (from S. Nicolò to Alberoni), Cavallino, Tre Porti and Punta Sabbioni.
In this case all you need is a lot of patience, time and an ACTV day trip ticket.

Alessandro Rizzardini (riproduzione riservata ©)