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. 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 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 ''Piero Foscari'' was an Italian merchant ship and then auxiliary cruiser of the '' Regia Marina''. Built in 1928 for the ''Società Anonima di Navigazione Adriatica'', it was originally a motor ship of 3,423 tons. ''Foscari'' served as a transp ...

and

Pietro Marsich Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II Can ...

, 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, 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 The Scuola dei Varoteri is a building located facing the Campo Santa Margherita in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, Venice, Italy. History The two story brick building is unusual for standing detached in the large square. It served as the home of the co ...

* 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