It is not known whether the sea invades the city
Or the city sinks into the sea...
It is not known whether in the morning the city bathes in the sea
Or at dusk the sea falls asleep in the city...
(Madlena Serdyuk)
^ Breaststroke race at the Rari Nantes pool of the Dopolavoro Ferroviario - girls championship, 1943
Venice is the city that stands on water and looks at itself through its reflection. Venice and water (that of the sea, that of the lagoon, and that which often envelops it in dense fog) have always been inseparable.
People always talk about the Venice that rises on water, but does a Venice in water also exist? Well, the answer is yes. There was a time when swimmers greeted each other in the middle of the Grand Canal or in the waters of the Giudecca Canal. There is a story known to few, about Venice in the water, when locals spent hours, if not days, in the lagoon pools.
However, today, unless one speaks of the few swimming pools in large and luxurious hotels such as the Cipriani, the Hilton Molino Stucky, and so on, little is known about the history of the original concept of the public swimming pool in Venice.
Actually, there are numerous anecdotes, some even bizarre, about swimming in Venice. The odd one is that it would be unimaginable to take a dip with an accompanying swim in the Venetian canals today. The constant traffic of boats and gondolas and the water condition no longer allow swimming in the city. Once upon a time, this was not the case.
And we don't have to go back centuries, but just a few decades.
At the beginning of the twentieth Century, the situation was quite different: the canals of the Serenissima were the place where Venetians dived, swam, and competed for over forty years.
At the beginning of the last century, the swimming pools in Venice were not what we know today, covered, heated, equipped, and sanitized: the Venetian swimmers of the past splashed heroically in the pools, which consisted of fenced-off areas of the canal, or in the middle of the canals themselves.
Sea Mile from the Capitol to the Spire Bridge - arrival of a participant, 1950 - ph © Fondo Rari Nantes DLF >
Miglio Marino swimming competition, in Canal di Cannaregio, from the Capitello to the Ponte delle Guglie- Competitors in the water - 1940 >>
The history of Venetian swimming pools features names and places that either no longer exist today or have totally changed.
The first public pool in the lagoon was built at Sacca Fisola, in Giudecca, and named after Amedeo Chimisso, an Italian swimmer, not even 20 years old, who died with the entire Italian national swimming team in a plane crash in Bremen in 1966.
Amedeo Chimisso was a very young Venetian swimmer who from training in the canals of the lagoon, where he learned to swim, managed to make it to the Olympics. And just like the talented Chimisso, many other Venetians have in their memories training in the lagoon waters, where they practiced before the public indoor pools were opened.
As well known as the Passoni was the Rari Nantes Ferrovieri (or Dopolavoro Ferroviario), accessible from behind the Santa Lucia railway.
It dates back to the 1920s and was active for about fifty years until the 1970s. Like the pool on the Zattere, this one behind the Santa Lucia station was made of poles, and concrete sections to separate the lanes and delimit the swimming area. The Rari Nantes Ferrovieri pool was among the most crowded and frequented, and competitive and non-competitive races were often held there.
On the opposite bank, where the Zattere is located, was the Passoni swimming pool, consisting of an enclosed area with bathrooms and changing rooms. Here, talented youngsters with ambitions of becoming champions or simply girls and boys eager to have fun met.
The Passoni pool consisted of "poles lying in the water separating the pool from the Giudecca canal" as Giancarlo Paulon, a former swimmer and now president of the national association of Atleti Olimpici e Azzurri d'Italia who learned to float and take his first strokes in this Venetian pool, puts it.
^^ A view of the Passoni pool on the Zattere, Venice. In the background, the wooden palisade that separated the pool from the foundations. Via Album di Venezia.
Unlike the swimming pools described in the previous paragraphs, which had no roof and used water from the lagoon, the first indoor pool was built in the 1960s: the Gandini pool on the island of San Giorgio, now owned by the Cini Foundation. The pool was designed with large glass surfaces, iron frames, and geometric bodies intersecting each other at the ceiling to support the building.
The structure is characterized by great internal luminosity, making it a place suitable for various functions. After years of closure and recent restoration, the pool has become part of the exhibition spaces of the Cini Foundation and occasionally hosts exhibitions of international interest.
Even today, as in the past, although more hidden and less accessible, numerous swimming pools can be discovered in Venice. Some are frequented by Venetians for their daily workouts and recreation, such as the no less than seven municipal swimming pools (four on the mainland, two in the historic center (Venice Island), and one on the Lido), others more exclusively intended for sophisticated deluxe tourism experiences.
The most famous and popular public swimming pool on the island, dubbed ‘the pool of the Venetians’, is the Sant'Alvise pool, known for being the only one overlooking the lagoon.
It has a 25 m pool with five lanes flanked by large windows that allow swimmers to enjoy natural light and views of the northern lagoon during their strokes.
In addition to the two public municipal swimming pools, Venice is rich in hidden and enchanting places, known only to a few attentive visitors.
At Giudecca, at the back of the factory built by Mariano Fortuny in 1921, where an old convent once stood, closed during the Napoleonic era, one can now visit the enchanting garden with an infinity pool, which Elise McNeil had built for her Venetian sojourns. The garden, populated by fauns and mythological figures, is an explosion of scents and colors as it is inhabited by an infinity of plants and flowers: magnolias, cypresses, wisterias, climbing roses, camellias, herbs, and water lilies. The swimming pool is the star of this magical space, a surprise in the stone Venice. The history of this garden began with Mariano Fortuny and grew with the intervention of his heir, who restored it in the 1950s, making it one of the most beautiful green spaces in the city.
Another hidden gem of Giudecca is the Blue Pavilion at Palazzina Grassi, the luxury boutique hotel designed by Philippe Starck. The Palazzina is located in the beating heart of Venice, while the Blue Pavilion is close to Palladio's Redentore church. The Blue Pavilion is set in an elegant, hidden Venetian garden, from which one enters a 600-square-metre covered space with a 12-metre swimming pool at its centre. The pool, especially at night, provides lucky guests with a truly unique and magical play of reflections.
Not to be outdone is the exclusive pool at the Hotel Cipriani, which offers the possibility of swimming outdoors with a view of the island of San Giorgio and St Mark's Square.
Last but not least, the swimming pool at the Hilton Molino Stucky: one of the most panoramic spots in the entire city. Located on the eighth floor of the hotel, it enjoys a breathtaking view, from which you can see the entire Serenissima, including the Basilica of San Marco.
Hilton Molino Stucky swimming pool >
We don't know whether it came as a surprise to you readers or not, but through our research, we have discovered a Venice rich in public and private pools, dating back to ancient times.
The ingenuity and hilarious spirit of our fellow citizens meant that water, from being a constituent element of the city and an economic, military, and political resource, also became a traditional occasion for entertainment.