The Restoration Interventions of “Forte Marghera” in Venice

. In the framework of the Strategic Masterplan Cultural Heritage 2014-2018 of the Italian Ministry of Culture, a specific attention for the strengthening and constitution of relevant urban cultural centers is sought through the restoration and re-use of structural complexes of great architectural and historic value such as the case of Forte Marghera (Marghera Fort) of Venice. The need to build a fortress at the point where the mainland approached Venice was understood, after the fall of the “Serenissima” Repu blic (1797), by the Austrian Empire. The fort was therefore built in a marshy area on the edge of the Venice lagoon, crossed by a maze of canals. The works started in 1805. On the area there was already the old village of Malghera, home to warehouses and customs, which was incorporated into the Fort. However, the return of Napoleon's troops in 1806 surprised the works still in a early stage. The fortified work was then revised according to the plans of the French architect Marescò and conducted under the guidance of the general and military engineer François-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry and later the Chasseloup. The most significant buildings still present in the fortress – object of the current restoration works - are the two French barracks (1805-1814),