“Isola di Sacca Sessola”
2013
Media: pastel on card
Size: 17,5 x 17,5 cm
This is an artificial island built in 1870 with material excavated to create the port of Saint Martha. Its shape resembles that of a “sessola”, a traditional Venetian instrument used to bale out boats. Cultivated to grow vegetables and vines, it became a hospital island in 1911 when cholera broke out in Venice. In 1914, it became a convalescent home for tuberculosis. The hospital called “Tuberculosario San Marco” was closed during the First World War and reopened in 1920. In 1936 the new hospital was inaugurated. Called De Giovanni, its buildings were typical of the Fascist era. The island was then abandoned. It was donated to the Venice International Center for Marine Sciences and Technologies, to further their research. Currently it hosts a private hotel.
