Old Town of Malamocco Street / Area

The Old Town, a Miniature Venice

Around the Campo della Chiesa, the historic heart of Malamocco forms a small compact ensemble of low houses, narrow alleyways and canals crossed by modest bridges. Unlike the north of the Lido, profoundly reshaped by the seaside development of the 19th and 20th centuries, this ancient nucleus has preserved the scale and organization of a true lagoon village, where squares, alleyways and waterways remain tightly interwoven.

Today's Malamocco is the heir of the ancient Metamauco, which was one of the main political centers of the lagoon and hosted the ducal power in the second half of the 8th century, before its transfer to Rialto at the beginning of the 9th. The old settlement disappeared in the Middle Ages, probably due to profound transformations of the coastline and destructive marine episodes. A new town, the “Malamocco Nuovo”, developed nearby from the 12th century.

The Palazzo del Podestà, a Gothic building from the 15th century overlooking the campo, recalls the administrative importance that Malamocco retained long after the disappearance of the old ducal centre. Nearby, the church of Santa Maria Assunta, founded in the 12th century and subsequently remodeled several times, is the village's other major landmark.

This contrast between village scale and great lagoon history is a large part of Malamocco's appeal. The setting seems very far from the hotels and beaches of the Lido. The town can be explored quickly.

The Ponte del Borgo and the canal network

Like the rest of the old centre, Malamocco is structured by a small network of canals crossed by several bridges. 

This network was once more extensive. Between the 19th and early 20th century, the main inner canal was filled in: its route survives today in the form of the Rio Terà, a Venetian term meaning precisely a street created on the site of an old canal. The village's current layout thus retains, even in its street network, the trace of its former aquatic geography.

A stroll along the canals, bridges and quays of Malamocco is ultimately the best way to appreciate the link between the village and the sea.

Sources and further information

MOSE Venice - Malamocco, history and flood protection ; Treccani - Medieval Venice and Metamauco ; Visit Lido - Palazzo del Podestà ; Visit Lido - Santa Maria Assunta.