Today the most beautiful garden in Venice, in 2021 the Provincial Curia of the Capuchin Friars Minor, with the authorization of the Holy See and the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Municipality of Venice and Lagoon, had entrusted its restoration to the Venice Gardens Foundation.

The Foundation, founded in 2014 on the idea of ​​Adele Re Rebaudengo, its President, works for the protection and safeguard of the botanical, artistic and architectural heritage of Venice, with various excellent projects already under its belt such as the restoration of the Royal Gardens in the Marciana area.

Praise be to you, my Lord, through our sister mother earth, who nourishes us, sustains us and produces various fruits with colorful flowers and grass.

(Cantico delle creature, San Francesco)

The Convent Garden of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer has a very ancient history. Its Franciscan friars have been at the Redeemer since 1535, playing a central role for the community as they were sent to the sick of the various epidemics that arrived in the Lagoon, which is why, when the Church of the Redeemer was built in thanksgiving for the end of the plague in 1576, it was entrusted to them.

The Foundation commissioned the In Venetia Hortus Redemptoris project to the landscape architect, Paolo Pejrone, famous among his other wonderful works for the park of Villar Perosa of the Agnelli family or the Tuscan villa of Valentino, while the architectural restoration was entrusted to the architect Alessandra Raso.

When you pass the cloister of the convent and enter the garden, the wonder is such that you feel like you have arrived in the Gardens of Eden, a true green paradise marked by orthogonal paths that divide the space of the crops in a rational way, as befits a site of work and meditation.

For centuries, in fact, the Hortus Redemptoris has been the protagonist of the social life of the lagoon, not only as a source of sustenance indispensable to community life, but also a place where the ingredients of the remedies used in the important Pharmacy of the Convent and ornamental flowers were grown, primarily for the altars and religious ceremonies.

Thanks to the study of maps and ancient documents, the restoration has kept the soul of the place intact by making various species coexist in a wonderful green setting that changes with the seasons:
orchards, olive trees and vegetables such as artichokes, pumpkins and salads, mix with medicinal plants and flowers, from roses to lilies, with clear symbolic meanings, but also zinnias, dahlias, asters, night-blooming jasmine and cyclamens.

In the center of the Garden and the symbolic cross of the walkways, there is a pool of water with lotus flowers and water lilies, a tribute to the ties with the East that have always characterized the Serenissima.

Beyond the pool, you reach the old work areas that now house the offices of the Foundation, rooms for exhibitions and events, where there is an exhibition with photographs of how the garden was before the restoration, and the Caffè In Venetia Hortus Redemptoris.

The Caffè has a beautiful terrace overlooking the Lagoon with a view of the islands of San Clemente, Sacca Sessola and delle Grazie. Perfect from breakfast to aperitif (closes at 7 in summer, 4.30 in winter), it offers various high-quality dishes, many of which are made with organic vegetables and fruit picked in the garden, such as the Omelette with herbs, the Fish fillet served with seasonal vegetables or the Tortelli with herbs and ricotta.

If you are a resident or frequent visitor to Venice, it is definitely worth subscribing to the annual membership of the Venice Gardens Foundation (30 euro) to have unlimited access and take advantage of the benches or the bar to relax and read a book.

Just consult the Foundation’s social media to stay updated on the many free events organized in the Convent Garden of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer.

The Secret

Inside the Convent is the ancient pharmacy, in the past the most famous in Venice as, when there were plagues, the city government allowed people in need to take advantage of the herbal remedies made by the Capuchin friars and the monks of San Giorgio.

Useful Info

Venice Gardens Foundation
Convent Garden of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer
Giudecca 194
30133 Venezia
Tel. +39 041 3121700

Tickets: full 12 euro, reduced 6 euro (Venice residents, children aged 6 to 12, FAI members)
Coffee: 4 euro
Dishes: from 16.50 euro
Glass of wine: from 8 euro