La Scuola dei Varoteri Campo Santa Margherita is a city square in the sestiere of

Dorsoduro Dorsoduro is one of the six sestieri of Venice, in northern Italy. Dorsoduro includes the highest land areas of the city and also Giudecca island and Isola Sacca Fisola. Its name derives from the Italian for "hard ridge", due to its comparati ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is located near university buildings and serves as a gathering place for students at the end of the day. Historically, the square had been host to various shops catering to local residents, but these have been replaced with bars, cafes and eateries catering to students and younger tourists. With a total area of 8,045 m², the square has an oblong shape. The main alleyways leading to Campo Santa Margherita are located in the north and the south, but there is access at the midway as well.

History

Campo Santa Margherita was a hotbed of left-wing activism in Venice in the 19th and early 20th century, being the home of the local headquarters of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

as well as the Casa del Popolo (the People's House). The '' osterie'' in the square were frequented by radical activists. In one instance, in 1913–14, socialists gathered at the Osteria da Capon declared the "Republic of Santa Margherita", a tongue-in-cheek act whereby they appointed fishermen as doges and port workers as ''avogadori''. The area was not, however, exclusive to socialists and was a mixing ground for Venetians of different social backgrounds, including anti-socialist figures like Piero Foscari and Pietro Marsich, who lived locally spent time in the square's bars. The left-wing activism around the square was subdued with the rise of fascism; concurring with the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fa ...

, fascists attacked the Casa del Popolo on 30 October 1922, to find only two socialists in house with orders not to resist.Ferris 2012, p. 35.

Buildings around the square

* Scuola dei Varoteri * Ospizio Scrovegni *

Scuola Grande dei Carmini The Scuola Grande dei Carmini is a confraternity building in Venice, Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, before Campo dei Carmini and Campo Santa Margherita, upon which its facade looks. It stands, separated by an alley, to the nor ...

* Santa Margherita, Venice *

Santa Maria dei Carmini Santa Maria dei Carmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo and commonly known simply as the Carmini, is a large Roman Catholic church in the sestiere, or neighbourhood, of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy. It nestles against the former ''Sc ...

References

{{Coord, 45.4344, 12.323822, scale:2000, format=dms, display=title Piazzas and campos in Venice