Giardini Reali

Between the Procuratie Nuove and the Bacino di San Marco, the Royal Gardens occupy about 5,000 square metres in the ceremonial heart of Venice. Created for the Napoleonic-era Royal Palace, the garden combines geometric parterres, tree-lined paths, a historic pergola and a neoclassical pavilion.

Why it matters

The gardens were created when Napoleon’s planners cleared granaries and storehouses behind the Procuratie Nuove for a new royal residence. From 1814, architect Lorenzo Santi shaped their definitive layout, combining Italian-style parterres with English-style groves along the lagoon basin. The garden’s history reflects changing ideas about public and royal space: it was alternately closed and reopened under successive regimes before the City of Venice assumed management in 1920. After a long period of decline, the Venice Gardens Foundation received the site in 2014 and restored it; the gardens reopened in December 2019.

What to notice

Santi’s plan balances formal parterres with groves and an avenue beside the water. The iron pergola dates to 1857 and is covered by wisteria and other climbing plants. Near it stands the Kaffeehaus pavilion, built between 1815 and 1817, with its sculptures completed in 1819. A greenhouse, a restored water channel and planting suited to the lagoon environment—including tamarisks, agapanthus, hydrangeas, irises, myrtle and salt-resistant shrubs—contribute to the garden’s character. The layout frames views across the basin toward San Giorgio Maggiore.

Context and history

Four-storey granaries occupied the site from the fourteenth century, later joined by the health magistracy. A decree of 11 January 1807 designated the Procuratie Nuove as a Royal Palace, and the associated transformation removed bridges across the Rio della Luna and enclosed the garden. An iron gate by Acerboni and Pellanda was installed in 1816. The Kaffeehaus later served as a public coffee house, a rowing-club headquarters and an air terminal. Empress Sissi closed the gardens in 1861; Vittorio Emanuele II restored public access in 1866. The City of Venice took over management in December 1920, and a 1939–1940 reworking imposed geometric box parterres. The recent restoration worked with these successive layers of the site’s history.